


The Warrior Games

by nicheofnight



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: AND IT WASN'T EVEN ONLY ME, Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS REPRESENTATIVE OF MY TALENTS AS AN AUTHOR, Hunger Games, I WAS LIKE TWELVE WHEN I STARTED WRITING THIS, LET ME DIE, Oh god, Original Clans (Warriors), This is Bad, Warrior Cats, alright go ahead, and old, idk why I'm posting this, please, read if you are prepared to die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 06:52:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 39,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15189221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicheofnight/pseuds/nicheofnight
Summary: Blazeash, alongside her blind brother Hazyeyes, is chosen to be in this years Warrior Games, a battle royale for the cats of the clans. The Warrior Games is orchestrated by the strange white leader, Snowstar, who is the only remaining child of the sun and the moon, the original cats of the clans. Will Blaze be able to save herself and her brother while also discovering the truth of her birth?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY, HI! My name is nicheofnight, and this is a story I wrote alongside my friend from seventh grade to eighth grade (so we were like twelve when we started, okay?). Please note that this was originally two books but I don't feel like figuring out what we were going to call the second book (it is labeled in my google drive as "book 2").  
> Anyhow, this is a crossover from warriors to the hunger games. It features literally none of the casts of either story, and is made up entirely with original characters. Basically we wanted to write about the hunger games but also with cats. It's kinda awful when I look back on it now, but I wanted to post it for posterity, since it was the first story I really worked hard on and wanted to finish. This is sort of a testament to myself on my path to become a better writer. For whatever reason, I hope that you enjoy this story, even a little bit, since even though I can find a lot of flaws, this story still means quite a lot to me.
> 
> And with that, thank you for reading the Warrior Games, and I hope that you will check out my other, better story, the Stolen Sight. :)
> 
> \- nicheofnight

_two lovers rose, then fell_

_moon shining on the heavens_

_sun into the depths of hell_

_separated by his aggression_

 

_until sun wavered too close to_

_his undying wife_

_burning her soul straight through_

_with a crystal knife_

 

_chaos burned her silver face_

_her soul disappeared_

_to the depths of space_

_cheek wet with trailing tears_

 

_sun spilled his flaming blood_

_reaping sin on the fresh tilled earth_

_leaving behind his children_

_just days past their birth_

 

_ice saw his chance_

_froze the world into a trance_

_they say his heart is frozen_

_at first glance_

 

_mayhaps the world will die by ice_

_only flame can melt the frost_

_take a chance, roll the dice_

_if not, then all is lost_

 

Long ago, before time, the vacuums of space created two beings with the powers of the two great sky-powers, the sun and the moon.The names of these creatures were Moonstar and Sunstar. At first, they were shapeless, homeless creatures with no true meaning to their lives, until one day, they thought of an idea. They created a perfect world, and took god-like forms of a creature of another world, cats. They gave themselves this form, and vowed to stay in it, until their mortal lives ran out. Moonstar was overjoyed with the idea of a mortal life, but Sunstar wanted free roam of the universe. He was never quite happy with the world, and often tried to fix it. Before his death, he never got it right.

 

Soon, Moonstar was pregnant, and gave birth to a litter of five. A beautiful, graceful she-cat by the name of Blazestar was the youngest child, followed by her brother, Streamstar, strong and determined from birth. In the middle was Breezestar, kind and good-hearted. The second oldest was Shadestar, and her intelligence could never be matched. The oldest child was named Snowstar. He was the runt of the litter, and an albino. That, combined with his sensitive nature, made him the subject of teasing of his siblings. Though his brothers and sisters were happy, Snowstar felt that he should have more power than them, and was always looking for a way to prove himself. Sunstar saw the determination in his eldest son, and trained Snowstar with the power of Sunstar's special soul gem, the Phoenix stone.

 

One day, Sunstar approached his children with the news that a great demon had slain their mother, ripping her from her mortal body. However, her spirit lived on, in her spirit gem, the Moonstone. The five of them accepted this, and although they were sad, they moved on in time. None of them questioned the fact that a demon, something they had never seen or heard of, had killed their all powerful mother. None of them ever unravelled the truth that it was really Sunstar who had killed his own wife. Why did he do this, and why did he lie to his children, whom he loved so much? The answer is simple, dear child. Sunstar wanted power. And Moonstar got in his way.

 

Soon after Moonstar’s mysterious death, each of her five children created a clan for themselves to rule over; Blazestar with Fireclan, Shadestar with Shadowclan, Streamstar with Riverclan, Breezestar with Windclan, and Snowstar with Thunderclan. Each sibling lived in peace and harmony with one another, all sharing one moon to go to the Moonstone together. This visit refilled them with magic and youth, just like their mother once was, so that they would never die of old age. The power of their mother’s soul was enough to keep them living long past their due to death, and kept them strong enough to rule the forest for many generations. Even so, they were not as strong as they would be if they visited their father’s gem, which he hid away in his cave, not allowing anyone to visit except for Snowstar.

 

One night, Snowstar rushed away from his clan, and forged his way through the icy wind to the cave of the Moonstone. Inside, the spirit of his mother tied to the moonstone, lay awake, unfazed by the sudden presence of her eldest son.

“Come in, my child…” she called, still facing away from her powder white son.

“What ails you my dear? Why do you seek me, without your siblings no less?”

Snowstar shuffled closer, his scarlet eyes glowing.

“Moonstar,” He began, questions filling his voice, “Why, though I am the eldest, do my siblings have the same amount of magic as I?” He moved closer, his frozen breath floating about in the frigid air, “I feel I deserve more than they. I am smaller, so am in need of extra power. ” Moonstar’s ghostly pale purple eyes shifted to him.

“Because, my son,” She started, her tail curling around him like she used to do when she was telling a long story, “When I died, the magic of my soul was evenly spread out to each of my kits and the Moonstone. There is nothing I can do to give you more or less power. I’m sorry my son.” Moonstar turned away, letting go of Snowstar’s pelt with her tail.

 

However, Snowstar was angered at his mother's denial to his request. He lashed out with his powerful paw and broke the moonstone into 16 pieces, killing what was left of Moonstar's spirit. Rushing back into the snow flurry outside, he made his way back to Thunderclan. When he returned, he called the other clans to a gathering at the moonstone, and proposed that they break into 15 smaller clans, all ruled by the greatest clan, his own. But his brothers and sisters were angry at this insulting idea, and when they discovered that Snowstar had slain Moonstar, all hell broke loose.

The battle lasted for days, and t'was the greatest of them all. Snowstar had the largest piece of the moonstone, and eventually his clan prevailed due to its cruel magics. He enslaved the remaining cats and divided them into the sectors: The Aquarian sector, with Rainclan, Riverclan, and Iceclan; The Mountain sector, with Sootclan, Shadowclan, and Shadeclan; The Midnight sector, with Stormclan, Windclan, and Moonclan; The Flame sector, with Torchclan, Fireclan, and Flameclan, The Sand sector, with Sunclan, Dustclan, and Thornclan, and lastly Fourtrees, with his own clan, Thunderclan.

 

For many years, unnatural peace took effect, all because of how powerful Snowstar and Thunderclan were in comparison. No cat thought twice about overthrowing Snowstar for the longest time, but his siblings knew that something must be done. They had no choice but to try and kill their brother, but it no longer mattered that they were kin. Now, Snowstar was just a common enemy. After a quick meeting, the siblings returned to their sectors and proposed the idea of overthrowing Snowstar, and bringing the forest back to its former glory. They simply asked for any clan or sector willing to join them in their fight, but no cat wanted to lose as they knew they would.

All except the Flame sector, who agreed they would join in. The battle lasted many days and many nights, kin on kin, friends on friends, but in the end, the victor was as clear as it was when the fighting began. Snowstar stood upon the mangled bodies of his siblings. Lined up in front of him were what he thought was the remaining cats of the Flame sector which he killed one by one, showing the forest that he was stronger than they could ever be. As a reminder of this fact, he set up an annual fight to the death, that he called “The Warrior Games”.  For 74 years, the unnatural, unreal peace fell over the forest again, and there was only one cat to blame.


	2. Burned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JUST A NOTE HERE! This chapter was edited by me a little earlier this year! This is not representative of the rest of the book! Thanks.
> 
> \- nicheofnight

_ coal is coal _

_ cat is cat _

_ both may stay _

_ and hidden lay _

_ yet, through scratching claws _

_ they both retire _

_ and both may cause _

_ the birth of fire _

 

“Blaze, it’s time to wake up. _ ” _  Blazeash’s eyes flickered open, shuddering away from the bright torchlight of her den, “Come on Blaze, it’s already high time for you to be awake. _ ”   _ Hazyflame grumbled, biting at her ear with annoyances was always gentle in the morning, he knew that his sister was more of a night owl than a morning bird, “Come on now Blaze, I know you’re awake!” Blaze grinned and opened her eyes slightly, 

“Okay, I’ll get up. If I have to.” She yawned, stretching out her legs.

“You do.” Hazy demanded, giving her a playful shove.

“Fine.”

Blazeash rolled out of her nest and onto the floor, beside her brother. “Where are we going today, Hazy?”

“Everywhere.” He replied, “So we should get moving.” Without a second glance, the siblings rushed out the door, just pausing for a moment so Hazy could grab his satchel bag.

 

The two siblings walked down into the tunnel, searching for mushrooms. It was Hazy’s job to find mushrooms, because he was a medicine cat who specified in cures with the cave fungi common in Sootclan. Blaze would go with him a lot of the time , because he needed help, especially in tunnels he didn’t travel go in often. Hazy helped her too, sharp ears able to pick up the rustling of bats or sometimes even rabbits thatfor Blaze couldto catch for dinner.

Many times when Hazy would go off on his own, he would come back to the camp with injuries of various types because he had hit a cave wall or tripped on a stone. Hazy was blind, he had always been blind and he would always be blind, but he tried not to let that be an excuse for lesser work. It was just life for him.

“Hey, Hazy, what kind of fungi are we looking for today?” Blaze asked, running up to walk alongside him. Hazy blinked with confusion,For a moment, Hazy tried to remember, but then replied, 

“Well Blaze, I’m not looking for mushrooms today. Today I’m looking for a cat.” Blaze stopped, pulling Hazy to a halt,

“What do you mean?” Hazy sat down on the cold cave floor,

“Well, Blaze… 

Once upon a time, the leader of Thunderclan, now known as Fourtrees, created the Warrior Games to remind his subjects that he ruled them all-”

“Hey, I know this story!” Blaze interjected.

“Shh, this isn’t the normal one they tell you at school. I heard it from one of the elders. Now listen!” Hazy launched back into his story, “In the first Warrior Games, rules were unknown, and the first tributes, a young tom and she-cat from each clan, were left to just try to survive. There were no Bloodclaws, and not many traps set up, but the fight was more brutal than any other since. The victor was of Sootclan, a young cat named Hayfur, but in order to win, he had to kill the other Sootclan tribute, whom he had known all his life, Coalfeathers. After the games, Snowstar decided to give Hayfur not only eternal life, but he branded Hayfur’s leg with Coalfeathers’ name, just so that he would remember her forever. He sent Hayfur back to Sootclan, but every year, he is forced to train the Sootclan tributes, then watch them die in the battle that will follow…

 

And now he’s gone missing.” Blaze wondered why Hazy had never told her this before. He must have known of this old survivor, and so must have others, but why had she never heard of him? Hazy kept walking down the path, apparently unaware that Blaze had stopped. She paused before running to catch up with him,

“Hey, you can’t just run off like that!” She yowled as she tore down the path. Hazy laughed,

“Maybe you shouldn’t get lost in thought then.” He said, nudging her with his side.  _ Hayfur _ , thought Blaze,  _ The old survivor. Trainer of cats. Okay, good to know. _

“Come on, let's go! We have to help find him!” Blaze mewed before rushing down the tunnel, Hazy just behind her. There was no choice. She needed to meet this cat,w this trainer of others. She needed to ask him why.  _ Why didn’t tributes just, well, not fight?   _ She hoped that Hayfur would have an answer.

 

The tunnels wound deep into the earth’s core, twisting their way down an endless slope. When someone went missing, the cats of Sootclan tended to realise that they had dug to many tunnels, because this time, as with many others before it, there were too many places that Hayfur could be. He had lived for many long years, adventuring in the tunnels. Hayfur knew where everything went, what tunnels led outside, what tunnels led to underground springs, and all the paths through the endless twisting mines. It was nighttime before Hazy and Blaze returned from the tunnels, empty clawed. They had found no sign of Hayfur, and they were cold and wet from repeatedly falling into the mountain streams that slipped through the caves. The satchel bag that Hazy had brought with them was filled with fungi and ferns, but no clues as to where the elder was. 

 

In dead winter, the mountain was cold at night, so when Hazy and Blaze returned to their home cave, they weren’t surprised to see their mother tending to the hearth, waiting for their return,

“You finally made it home!”  Beesting called, running over to lick some of the grit off of their fur, “I was worried that we were going to have to tell the search parties to look for you two as well!” She sighed, pulling Hazy’s bag off and hanging it on its place on the wall, “Here, you two go warm up by the fire or your fur will freeze.” She ran off to find some fresh kill from one of the piles in the main hall, leaving Blaze and Hazy alone in the soft firelight.. Blaze watched the flame, mesmerized by its glow. It was… beautiful. Gently swaying to its rhythm, she felt light, flying high above the mountain. She heard Hazy’s voice call out to her, as distant as a lost dream. She was flying away from him, from their home, from everything. She was free, held up on wings of wind and able to see into eternity. For a moment, everything felt  _ right _ .. And then, she was burning. From the inside out, Blaze was burning, the fire sweeping her away. She was screaming, cats were pulling at her, and for just a moment, she was really happy. For just a moment she was one with the flames that licked at her, that scorched her down to the bone. For just a moment, she really was ablaze. And then that moment ended.

 

Foggy cats came and went from her room, some tried to talk to her, others just watched and waited. She didn’t care who they were, she just wanted them to leave. Some cats even tried to make her eat, but she wasn’t hungry. She didn’t remember anything much, just daydreaming, then being burned alive. The odd thing was, she didn’t feel hurt at all. She should’ve been badly burned all over, however her fur was still the same dark persimmon in color and she sustained no injuries. No pain. Just confusion.

After a few sunrises of cats coming and going, her mind started to work again. She began to saw who was coming to see her now, and she ate when she was told to. Before long, Hazy was walking her out of the medicine cave, distantsilent and cold,

“Hazy, what happened? I don’t quite remember.” Whispered Blaze, unused to her own mew. Hazy took a quick breath,

“Blaze, you jumped into the fire.” Her eyes spread wide, in disbelief,

“What!?” 

“At first you were laughing, saying something about flying, and then you were screaming. You were on fire, but I pulled you out of the flames just in time.”

Blaze frantically tried to remember, because that couldn’t have been true.  _ Or, could it?   _ She wasn’t sure what had happened, but Hazy seemed convinced.  _ What’s happening to me?   _ thought Blaze, _ Why would I jump into the flames, why don’t I have any injuries, and why don’t I remember it?  _ Hazy licked her head gently, feeling his sister shudder in fear as a million questions rushed through her mind. He curled up next to her in the bed, just like when they were kittens, and quietly purred, feeling her tense muscles relax as she slipped into sleep. That night, Blaze dreamed of fire.


	3. Sight of the Heart

_ But sometimes lies _

_ best the truth _

_ take a sip _

_ of the blood red goblet _

_ forget the secrets _

_ that gnaw at your heart _

 

A few sunrises had passed since the fire. Blaze’s and Hazy’s roles seemed to have switched, for now Hazy was the one taking care of Blaze. She pretended not to notice the elders whispering about her, but occasionally when walking through the Cave hall she heard snippets of conversation. 

_ “ The Torchstone… could it be… after all these years? No…”  _

Blaze wondered what it all meant. She wanted answers, but the elders wouldn’t tell her anything. Even Hazy seemed to be keeping secrets from her. Suddenly Blaze remembered one cat she had not yet asked.  _ Hayfur!   _ she thought, although the elders were not allowing her entrance to the deeper caves. Too dangerous, they had said. But Blaze was anxious for knowledge. 

 

When she thought no cat was looking, she ran off down the deepest path into the mountain. It was the only tunnel they had not searched yet, because it went too deep and they could get lost or hurt. But now it was her only choice. After a while, the oil lamps lighting the way stopped. At first, she thought to turn back, but a little darkness had never scared her. She trekked on through the tunnel, using her tail to guide her. As she walked, she felt as if a piece of her was missing. The last time she had explored the tunnels, another pair of paws walked beside her. It was something Blaze and Hazy had done since they were kits. She remembered their first adventure clear as day...

 

_ We were sitting around the fire, telling scary stories. An older cat asked us to gather around to hear the Legend of the Blood-sucking Bat. Nowadays, the story couldn’t have scared a mouse, but we were pretty spooked at the time.  To make matters worse, one of the older cats, probably about as old as I am now, challenged Hazy to go down into the tunnel and back. He wanted too, but needed me to come with to guide him, so I begrudgingly agreed. We headed off into the tunnel, and I think we both were more scared than we had let on. As we walked through the tunnel, we spooked a bat out of it’s nest and she jumped right out in front of us! We both screamed and jumped straight into the air, and then collapsed with laughter onto the ground. The cat who had told the story rushed down into the tunnel, having heard our screams. I still remember the expression on his face when he found us giggling and rolling on the ground. We sure had some explaining to do- _

 

A gruff voice interrupted her thoughts, “What do you think you’re doing here missy?” a silvery yellow cat stood before her, looking old, yet young at the same time,

“Oh nothing, really! I was just…” Blaze looked up at the cat, “Hayfur?” The cat’s muscles tensed,

“What do ya want?” his voice still sounded angry but his eyes were filled with fear. Blaze stepped closer,

“You’re Hayfur. The cat everyone was looking for.”

“Yes. What, are you slow?” Blaze smiled,

“Oh, I have to tell the others that you’re okay!” Blaze turned her paws, but she felt Hayfur holding her back,

”No! You can’t tell them. I’m hiding.” Blaze wrinkled her nose. He was so close now she could smell his breath. He smelled like… catmint beer. Catmint beer was an illegal drug in Sootclan, he shouldn’t be buying it, much less drinking it.

“You’ve been drinking beer. You do know that that’s illegal, right?” Hayfur rolled his eyes, and padded back over to the fire he had started. Blaze kept her distance, watching him.

“Yes, I know it’s illegal. Now, what do you want? I’ll give you anything! Just don’t tell them where I am.” Blaze thought for a moment, then her eyes brightened with an idea,

“I need answers.” stated Blaze, and she explained her odd predicament to the ill-tempered tom. His grouchy expression turned into astonishment, and he blinked his eyes at her. 

"Why, you're the cat that Bee adopted. Blaze, right?" He meowed.

"Adopted? You must be mixed up. I'm her daughter." Said Blaze, exasperated

"Oh, she never told you about your birth clan? That's gonna make this a lot harder..." grunted Hayfur. Blaze didn't understand what the drunk was trying to say. She was born and raised in Sootclan, with her Mother and Hazy. 

"Well, you're no help." Sighed Blaze as she turned her tail to leave.

"No! Wait! I can explain." Cried Hayfur "Just listen!" Blaze angrily turned back around,

"Well, spit it out then!"

"Blaze... You're from Torchclan, of the Flame sector. After thirty-six moons away from the Torchstone, your fire affinity starts to act out. You celebrated your third sun-cycle not too long ago, yes?"

"Well... yes. But Torchclan doesn't exist anymore. They were rebels against Snowstar, and they tried to kill him seventy-four sun cycles ago. Isn’t that why we have the Warrior Games?"

"That's what Snow taught you to believe. However, some cats survived this brutal killing and have been hiding out underground. You were taken away from your true family because it was too dangerous there." Blaze thought for a moment. Whenever she made her moonly visit to the Sootstone, it never seemed to work. Other cats spoke of its rejuvenating qualities, allowing them to find strains of coal with ease, and even see in the dark. But Blaze always assumed she just wasn't doing it right. Could this be why?

"So you're saying... this is why I jumped in the fire? Because I wanted to be reunited with the Torchstone?" She asked hesitantly

"Took you a while." He said, stretching his back and yawning, as if he couldn't care less. Blaze was overrun with emotion. She had just been told that she had been lied to her entire life, and now that she had unearthed the truth, Hayfur, the mangy brat, was acting as if he wasn't even interested. Anger bubbled under her skin, and the scene before her turned red. She saw fire flickering out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly she heard a scream. Blaze snapped back to her senses, and saw that the measly fire Hayfur had started had doubled in size. He had jumped away just in time, and Blaze's rage nearly disappeared when she realized that he could have died. The flame reverted back to it's original height as she rushed towards the tom. "Are you okay?" asked Blaze.

"I'll be fine... Why, you weren't lying about your powers, missy. You've got a lot of training to do."

"Training?"

"Well, someone has to teach you how to control that temper of yours. Run along now, and be back in a quarter moon. And, uh, keep this to yerself, okay?" He said flicking his tail in the direction of the path back to the cave hall. Without another word, Blaze rushed away, overwhelmed with what had just happened.


	4. Ablaze

_ can you hear my roar _

_ the crackle of the hearth _

_ a fire still starts _

_ from the smallest spark _

 

At first, Hazy seemed opposed, even apprehensive about the idea of Hayfur as a mentor. 

“You shouldn’t be trusting him,” frowned Hazy “he’s crazy. If you try to go down there with him alone… he could kill you.” Blaze rolled her eyes.

“He isn’t going to  _ kill  _ me, but if it makes you feel better, you can come with. Who knows, you might learn something.” 

“Fine” sighed Hazy. They walked together through the passage. Something seemed odd about Hazy today. His blank eyes stared at his paws, tail dragging on the ground.

“Are you okay?” asked Blaze, entwining her tail with his. Hazy jerked away, and sat down on a rock, facing the cave wall.

“Hazy? I know something is wrong. Just tell me!”

“It’s… nothing. Just leave me alone.”

“As your sister, I have the right to pester you until you tell me what is wrong.” 

“Ugh, you can be  _ so _ annoying sometimes…”

“Just say it already!” Hazy turned his head in question,

“Well… do you know Rosequartz? I really-”

“The crazy she-cat?” gawked Blaze. She had only met her once. Rose was one of the richer merchant cats who lived outside of the caves in Sootclan. The only memory Blaze had of her was when they were kits, playing a game of chase. Blaze had been the warrior, while the other kits were the prey. Rosequartz started to chase Blaze around, even though she was supposed to be a vole,

_ “You’re not playing right.” Blaze said to Rose, “I’m supposed to be chasing you, remember? Prey runs away from the warrior!” Rose had just smiled and said, _

_ “Well, if I was a vole, I wouldn’t run away. I’m no coward. Now fight me warrior, I won’t give up easily!” Rose was always filled with crazy ideas like that. It wasn’t natural. _

“Blaze, she’s not crazy, she’s just… misunderstood.” Blaze rolled her eyes. Of course Hazy thought Rose was normal. To him, everyone was normal.

“Oh, come on Hazy, the weird twitching, the muttering. There is something wrong with Rose…” but before she could finish, Hazy had growled,

“There is nothing wrong with Rose." He marched off down the tunnel, leaving Blaze behind in the dark.

 

By the time she reached Hayfur’s cave, it was clear that Hazy didn’t want to help with her training. His face held a solid grimace, and his eyes were dark and menacing. She had hurt him, and she knew it. She had cut him off, there was something more he had wanted to say about Rosequartz. _ If only I could turn back time...  _ Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her back legs.

“Pay attention to me, not to your brother. He isn’t the one training you.” Hayfur grumbled. He took a swig of his catmint beer and flashed his yellow teeth at them, “Now, let’s try this again.” he unsheathed his claws and swiped at Hazy’s face, “I don’t care if you’re blind, you’re stronger than you think.” Hazy glided around the training hollow, ears pricked up and nose twitching intently. With a quick movement, Hayfur jumped back, away from Hazy’s claws and knocked him to the ground,

“Hey!” yelled Blaze without thinking, “What do you think you’re doing?!” Hayfur looked up at her, his eyes glinting,

“I’m fighting. He’s fighting. What are you doing?” Blaze felt her fur prickle and jumped over Hazy, “I’m fighting.” She growled, staring at Hayfur’s blank expression. His paws were swift and sure, trained to be so, but her attack was fierce and nimble. The quick movements felt natural, and her paws suddenly felt battle worn. She felt ignited with the power of her kin, she felt like she was flaming, charred, and alive. One moment her paw brushed Hayfur, and the next moment he was on the floor, panting and laughing,

“I knew you had it in you to do that.”

 

Blaze suddenly felt very cold and she rested her head against the stone wall of the training hollow. She looked around at her surroundings, out of breath. Her brother, tired and bitter, grey fur shining with droplets of sweat. Hayfur, taking another lick of beer and glowering at the fresh cut on his leg, as if doing so would make it go away. Finally, her own two paws, literally sparking with energy. 

“Did I catch fire?” Inquired Blaze. 

“Mostly smoke and sparks… It’s harder lighting your own fire than using someone else's. Maybe someday I can get you to fight without making you angry first. That’ll save me some skin.” Responded Hayfur with a cruel edge in his voice. Blaze was about to retaliate, but was interrupted by Hazy’s sharp, mocking voice.

“Well, we better tuck in. Important day tomorrow!” He said with a fake Fourtrees accent. The cats of Fourtrees had adopted a high pitched accent that turned up at the end of each sentence, like they were always asking a question. It was originally meant to make the cats of Thunderclan seem better, more sophisticated than the others. However, all the clans made fun of the ridiculous mew.

“Tomorrow?” Wondered Blaze out loud “What’s tomorrow?” Hazy didn’t reply. Apparently he wasn’t talking to her now. Instead, Hayfur answered for him.

“The Blood Drawing.”


	5. Tainted Blood

_ you can trick me _

_ tear my lungs out _

_ leave me breathless _

_ but I will breath still _

_ with a wind from the willows _

_ and a cool night’s chill _

 

Blaze’s gaze drifted around her sleeping hollow. Hazy was already gone, he had told her that he was meeting someone before the blood drawing. He hadn’t said who he was meeting, but Blaze already knew.  _ He must be meeting Rosequartz,  _ she thought, striding across the cave floor,  _ He probably didn’t want me to know because of yesterday. Oh well.  _

Blaze tightened her CLARUS tracker around her leg and jumped out into the community hollows. Cats of all ages were flooding into the blood hollow, shivering in the crisp air. Like always, the blood hollow was stuffed with the bodies of more cats than just the ones from Sootclan. The entire sector was coming, and each clan would have two warriors chosen. Blaze stumbled through the crowd, trying to find Hazy, who would be on the other side of the fence. A Strongtooth approached her, grabbing her leg and instructing her to hold still. He folded out the needle on his CRUOR and pricked her leg, causing a few drops of blood to appear.

“Thank you for your cooperation Miss…” the Strongtooth paused to let his CRUOR scanner do its work, “Blazeash.” He quickly drew the specific amount of blood his scanner instructed from Blaze’s leg before supplying her with a small, thin square of gauze to put on the wound.The little light on her CLARUS beamed a bright green as the Strongtooth marked her as blood checked.

 

Blaze noticed Beesting waving at her from the crowd of nervous she-cats and toms whose kits might be sent away and killed. Bee looked nervous this year, more nervous than ever before, and Blaze didn’t even have to think to know why. It was Blaze’s last year to be in the Blood Drawing, so she had twenty-seven drops of blood in the pool. Blaze gave Bee a wary nod, and drifted off into the cloud of gray toned cats, out of Bee’s view.

 

As the hollow settled down, a pink and purple siamese cat stepped up the tallest rock in the hollow. Her name was Curio, and she was the drawing cat for the Mountain sector. This year, she had a big, fluffy tail, unlike her normal thin one, and golden eyes. Her fur was her normal light pink with purple, but when you looked at her right, she gleamed with gold. Her fur was curled and her eyes looked larger than before. She definitely was a true citizen of Fourtrees.Curio leaned forward into the microphone, and her shrill voice addressed the crowd,

“Cats of the Mountain Sector, welcome to the seventy fourth annual Warrior Games!” Like always, her accent made the cats around Blaze snicker. “Before the Blood Drawing, let us watch this message from our great leader, Snowstar.” The great panel of screens behind her suddenly displayed Snowstar sitting before them, his regal form shifting in his golden throne,

**“Cats of the clans.”** a small smile spread across his face, **“My children, welcome to the seventy-fourth annual Warrior Games! Now, I know you all have been, ahem, questioning the morality of our games because of recent events, and I understand that.”** His smile faded, almost into a glare, **“But, nonetheless, the games are a part of us, and help us to remember the terrible choices my siblings, and the cats of the Fire Sector, made: to fight against us, the cats of Fourtrees. The games remind us that we are a family, and we all suffer. Let us take a moment to remember my brothers and sisters who chose to fight against me, and failed. Let us remember them, whom I loved, yet they betrayed me. Most of all, let us remember Moonstar, my mother, who gifted me with this shard of her soul, that I wear around my neck, for this reason, to rule. I am a good leader, a kind leader, not a cruel one. Remember, so that we will not forget.”** Snowstar’s image faded into the symbol of Fourtrees, then the screen turned blank.

 

A few forced cheers and claps stirred through the crowd. Looking very teary eyed at Snowstar’s message, Curio stepped down from her rock onto the flat stone platform that displayed two vats full of tiny vials.

“Now.” she said, wiping her eyes, “I will draw the blood of Shadowclan. Toms first this year.” She stuck her thin muzzle into the container of vials. When she gripped one, she gently pulled it out and dripped the drop of blood onto her CRUOR scanner, “The tom for Shadowclan is… Shockpelt!” 

 

A dark, handsome tom looked up at the screen broadcasting his face live, and saw his own eyes widen in fear. He looked around to the other Shadowclan toms. They all turned their heads away. Shockpelt shuffled up to the platform, and all was silent, except for the muffled sound of crying among the queens. Curio reached down into the she-cat vat, and pulled out another vial, “The she-cat for Shadowclan is… Mistclaw!” Mistclaw didn’t even look up, she just slowly wound her way to the stage. No one was crying for her.

 

Curio led the round of applause for Shockpelt and Mistclaw while two burly Strongteeth removed the Shadowclan vials and replaced them with the Shadeclan ones. Curio reached in with her teeth and grabbed one quickly, “The tom for Shadeclan is… Darkfoot!”  A thickly muscled cat stood up, grinning. He looked like a BloodClaw, but shorter. Curio smiled brightly at him, and set her paw into the she-cat’s vials, “The she-cat for Shadeclan is… Amber that Shines with Wonder!” A small dusty golden she-cat squiggled her way through the crowd. Her eyes were filled with fear, and Blaze felt pity for the poor cat. Darkfoot and Amber lined up with Shockpelt and Mistclaw, and then waited patiently for the Strongteeth to replace the Shadeclan vials with the Sootclan vials.

 

Curio smiled brightly, and reached down into the vat of vials, “And the Sootclan tom is…” The crowd grew tense, “Hazyflame!” _ What? No, this can't be, he only had one drop of blood, the odds were in his favor,  _ Blaze felt her heart burst with the name of her brother. She searched through the seething mass of cats, trying to find him, to comfort him. She wanted to call out to him, to comfort him, but she couldn't move. A voice rang out above all others, 

“No!” Rosequartz screamed, dragging at the legs of the Sharptooth that was helping Hazy to the stage, “Not him, anyone but Hazy!” Blaze grabbed Rose off of the ground, and held her tight as Hazy stumbled to the stage, his face hardened. Rose thrashed about in Blaze’s grasp, shrieking and flailing, "No! Please, Blaze, let go of me!”  _ Would you just shut up? Hazy’s my brother. I should be the one crying, not you. _

 

Curio’s face shifted a little, almost pitying Rose, “Ah, young love.” she said, “If he wins, young she-cat, he will return to you.” She smiled awkwardly at the uncomfortable crowd, “Now for the she-cat of Sootclan.”

A vial of blood, cherry red, was pulled out of the pile, “Let’s see now.” Curio uttered, dripping the blood onto her CRUOR scanner, “The Sootclan she-cat is… Olivebranch!” A young, tough looking she-cat with a creamy brown pelt stepped forward. Though she looked prepared, she also looked fearful. It was her first time as part of the Blood Drawing, Blaze could tell. Suddenly, an idea popped into Blaze’s brain. She searched the crowd for Bee, and when she found her, they locked eyes, and Bee knew what Blaze was going to do. She nodded, knowing that Hazy needed Blaze.

 

“I volunteer!” Blaze shouted at the top of her lungs, “I will take the place of Olivebranch as the she-cat tribute!”


	6. Blood and Breath

_ memories _

_ coughed up like _

_ stale blood _

_ do you want to remember? _

_ do you want to forget? _

 

Curio’s eyes grew wide, because not in all her years, not in all of history, had a Sootclan cat ever volunteered. They were a quiet, timid folk, and no cat was brave enough to willingly put their lives at risk in something like the games. But Blaze, her radiant amber eyes brimming with tears and anticipation, had a plan.

“Wh-what?” Curio stuttered, staring blankly at the she-cat. The flame in her eyes flickered as she locked her gaze with Curio's, and the camera.

“I volunteer. I will fight for Olivebranch.” Curio pondered for a moment, then turned back to the crowd,

“This she-cat will fight for Olivebranch in the Warrior Games.” She turned back to Blaze, “What is your name, dear?”

“My name is Blazeash.”

Blaze stepped up onto the rock, immediately going to stand beside Hazy, who was lined up next to the other four. She saw the impressed look on the faces of her fellow tributes, and felt a strange pride underneath all of her other emotions.

“That was cool.” Exclaimed Shockpelt, his eyes gleaming,“You’ve got spunk.” Blaze tried to smile,

“Thanks.” 

 

Curio quickly wrapped up her speech, no one paying much attention. Sharpteeth pushed Blaze and Hazy into separate meeting rooms, where family and friends would come to say goodbye before they were sent off to Fourtrees. The first cat Blaze saw was Bee. Bee’s eyes were struck with tears as she hugged her daughter, 

“Oh Blaze, I’m so proud of you. I know that Hazy needs you, and so I’m willing to let you go if you promise me that you’ll come back.” Blaze rested her head on her mother,

“Of course, and I’ll bring Hazy home too.” Even though Bee knew that Blaze was speaking the impossible, even though she was simultaneously losing both of her children, she managed a weak smile and said,

“That’s my girl.”

The tall Sharptooth waved Bee out, and brought in the next visitor.

It was Olivebranch.

 

Olivebranch was thinner than Blaze had expected, and a manx. The manx in Sootclan were often healers, and Blaze wondered if Olive knew Hazy, or perhaps that Rosequartz character.

“Thank you Blaze!” cried Olive, “I know that we haven’t met, and that you were volunteering for your brother more than me, but nonetheless, I wanted to give you something that I think will help you along the way.” Olive reached into her bag and pulled out a crystal that shone every color of the rainbow, “For your clan token. I found it in the caves, and it's my good luck charm. You need it more than I do, so I want you to take it.” Olive gave the crystal to Blaze and nudged open the door, “Good luck.” she whispered, and then she was gone.

 

Rose was the last cat to visit Blaze. Her eyes were drowning in tears, and she hugged Blaze so hard that it felt like she was breaking every bone in Blaze’s body, 

“Thank you! Oh, that wasn't good enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" shrieked Rose with glee, “I was too afraid to volunteer myself, and now maybe Hazy has a chance to win! Wow!” Rose was jittering, almost like she was having a seizure,

“Calm down Rose, we haven’t won yet.” Blaze muttered, and Rose smiled, “Oh, but I know you will, I just know it! I’m shivering, so something good will happen.” She smiled wide, then rushed out the door, shouting, "I'm off to see Hazy! See you!" Blaze smiled a bit at Rose’s antics, perhaps rethinking her previous assumptions about her, but then she remembered where she was and grew sollom. It was no time to smile.

 

The train was the most beautiful thing Blaze had ever seen, both on the inside, and on the outside. On the outside, the steel was lined with diamonds and rubies and emeralds, and topaz, and every other crystal Blaze could even imagine. As the six tributes marched up to it, Curio made a point of telling them that every sector had its own special train, and because we mined, ours was decked out in all of the jewels. She also made a point of saying that the Mountain Train was the best looking by far. Clouds just didn’t do it for her, apparently.

Blaze was the last one to board the train, and by the time she made it into the Sootclan car, Hazy was already settled.

“Hazy…” She began, trying to think of what to say.

“I know.” He whispered, his voice cracking, “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine…” his voice drifted off until there was nothing but a tiny sob,

“Hazy, what’s wrong?” Blaze sat next to Hazy, watching the train tracks fly by behind them,

“What if I never see her again?” Hazy wept, “What if I die and the last memory I’ll have of her is her crying over me? I don’t want that. I don’t want her to remember me like that.  _ I don’t want to die. _ ” Hazy’s words seemed to spill out around them, and when he was done, Blaze wrapped her paw around her brother, “That gives you something to live for then.” They spent the first leg of the trip in silence. 

 

They looked out the window as the train passed Iceclan’s mountains, heading for the ruins. It was pouring rain by the time the train stopped for a break. Neither Hazy, nor Blaze wanted to go out in the rain with the others, so they decided to watch the tapes of the other blood drawings to learn the names of the cats they would fight. From Windclan, Henfeathers and Whiskerwings; from Stormclan, Hurricane and Tempest; from Moonclan, Eclipse and Starwing; from Iceclan, Cloud that Freezes over Mountains and Stream that Flows Under Winter; from Riverclan, Littlefish and Sharkfin; from Rainclan, Quicksilver and Drip that Falls from Clouds; from Sunclan, Brightheart and Skylight; from Thornclan, Birchpelt and Thistletooth; from Dustclan: Tumbleweed and Badger.

 

By the time they were done watching, Blaze and Hazy were fed up with the Blood Drawing. In some clans, like Stormclan, Riverclan, and Thornclan, cats even fought to be a part of the games. It made Blaze feel sick. Suddenly, Curio’s loud voice crackled over the speakers **,**

**“We are now exiting the Mountain Sector. Please return to your cars. Dinner will be served in the communal car shortly. It will take one sunrise to reach Fourtrees on our current plotted course. Thank you all for helping us keep the calm!”** A click marked the end of Curio’s message. As Blaze sighed, she thought she heard the other tributes sigh too. They were all sick and tired of Curio and her bouncy nature. None of them really wanted to be going to Fourtrees, where everyone would be like little Curios. Blaze shuddered at the thought. With a jolt, the train was on the road again, heading for Fourtrees.

 

Hazy had fallen asleep on Blaze’s lap as the sun drifted from the sky.  She picked him up, to the best of her ability, and carried him off to his room, deciding to skip dinner. He mumbled things about being tired and Rosequartz and how much he wanted to be home.

“I know.” Blaze whispered softly, “I know.”


	7. Fourtrees

_ trees of four _

_ symbol of peace _

_ four trees, four cats _

_ me? _

_ I’m the missing piece _

 

The Mountain Sector train rolled into the station at Fourtrees, and was immediately surrounded by strange looking cats waving and cheering. Blaze would have thought that they would all look like Curio, but Curio was quite different looking in comparison.

“Time to get off the train!” Curio chirped, smiling at the six warriors and three trainers who had lined up to get off the train, “And remember, you’re trying to get them to  _ like _ you, so don’t do anything stupid.” She shoved them outside into the mass of Fourtrees citizens with her shoulder, causing both of them to nearly topple over. 

One cat pushed in front of the others, green beehive jiggling as she walked, stretching as far as she could over the velvet rope separating the crowd from the tributes. The roar of the fans hurt Blaze's ears, and suddenly a whisper from Hazy gave her a reality check.

“One paw in front of the other. They’re cats, just like you, so don’t worry.” Blaze realised she had been standing in the middle of the red carpet, blocking everyone else from getting through. She put one shaky paw in front of the other, and tried to breath. 

 

The short walkway led to a gigantic building, where the tributes, mentors and other staff would be kept.  _ One floor per sector, with the Mountain Sector at the top, if I remember correctly from the broadcasts shown back at home.  _ The thought of home made Blaze choke on the breath she had inhaled. Luckily, at that moment, Curio, no longer posing for the cameras, provided ample distraction. She rushed ahead of the others and stepped in front of the building, as if presenting it,

“This is our little den for the half-moon before the Games. Here, I’ll show you to the elevator!” Curio chimed, opening the door and rushing off down a passage, expecting everyone else to follow. Blaze paused, and glanced at Hayfur. All she really wanted to do was sit down and clear her head for a while. But Hayfur followed after Curio, so Blaze did the same. 

 

Blaze had heard of an elevator before, but had never seen one. They were used deep in the caves back in Sootclan, and only the miners had any use for them.This elevator was made of clear glass, and had two plain, pale cats waiting in front of it. They looked nothing like members of Fourtrees. 

‘Level Four, please!” Curio requested, smiling at the two cats. Once Blaze and the others stepped into the elevator, the two cats seemed to… lift it somehow, although they weren't touching it. Darkfoot, the tom from Shadeclan, asked the question before she could,

“Who are they?” 

“Oh, you are so cute! Those are the elevator workers, from Windclan. They power the trains, as well as many other things around here.” Curio chuckled in response. The elevator hovered in the air, and the sliding glass door slid open as they reached the top floor. The six tributes stepped out, and dispersed into their dorms.

"I'll send a message when dinner is ready! Not too long, I hope!" cheered Curio as the elevator lowered her back down. Hazy entwined his tail with Blaze’s, squeezing her tail once. It was their code that everything was going to be okay. Blaze gave Hazy a small smile, and they approached their dorm. They had asked Curio if it was alright to share a room, and Curio had gushed endlessly about how what adorable siblings they were, so they assumed it was okay.

Blaze held her CLARUS tracker up to the door, and with a click, the door opened. Blaze had never seen anything more luxurious in her entire life. Plush purple carpets with a huge, beautiful nest in its own room. A private bathroom and walk in closet. She even had a little door where any food she could imagine was delivered, hot and ready directly from the kitchen below. Everything was coated with beautifully cut jewels. Blaze marveled at the splendor of the room, then chastised herself for being so selfish,

"Hazy, imagine all the poor people back in our clan, slaving away in the mines to get these gems. I can't believe how wasteful this is... this is cruelty." Hazy nodded his head and lay down on the bed. 

"Everything is happening so fast. It's almost like we were transported to another universe." He sighed. Blaze couldn't have agreed more. 

 

She was fatigued, getting almost no sleep on the train ride, and needed something to wake her up.  _ Well, I don’t have for a nap… Maybe a hot shower will fix my drowsiness. _ She padded over to the bathroom, and stepped into the shower. Back home, baths were taken in a hot spring or other water source. She had never used a real shower before, and was taken aback by all the buttons. Blaze carefully pressed a small red button with her nose, and immediately hot jets of water had her dancing on her toes. Another button was blindly pressed, and an orange foam rained on her as brushes scrubbed her pelt vigorously. Blaze leaped for another button, but slipped and pressed two whole rows. By the time Blaze escaped from the shower, she was clean as she ever been. 

"Well, now I'm awake." She mumbled, shaking out her soaking pelt. Lying on the floor was her shoulder bag. Blaze picked it up, and the stone Olivebranch had given her fell out. She hadn’t really looked at it until now. It was an amber color, and the light shone straight through it. Etched in its surface was a small bird surrounded by crudely drawn flames.  _ A phoenix.  _ Blaze thought, getting the feeling that Olivebranch wasn’t the first to find the stone.

 

Blaze absent mindedly set the stone onto the counter and walked into the main room. The sound of Curios voice made her jump a little,

**“Dinner is ready! Make yourself presentable and come down to the dining hall immediately.”**

“Hazy,” Said Blaze as she quickly groomed her pelt, “Do you have any idea where the dining hall actually is?”

“Are bats pink?” replied Hazy with a laugh.

“Uh… no?”

“Correct. Let’s go.” He said, and off they went in search of the hall. After much fruitless searching, eventually, they found it, sitting in the middle of all the dorms on their floor. Curio and Mistclaw were already at the table. Curio was trying her best to chat with the young tribute, but Mistclaw said nothing.  _ I haven’t heard Mistclaw speak once this whole trip.  _

Blaze sat down, goggling at the immense platter of food before her. Her diet in Sootclan consisted of mice, bats, mushrooms, and whatever else she could scavenge. Directly in front of Blaze was a plate of some kind of fowl, glazed in a rich red sauce. Blaze grabbed a hunk of meat with her teeth and swallowed it in one gulp. Curio stared, appalled. 

“Such awful manners! You act like you grew up starving or something!” She gasped. Blaze didn’t oppose Curio, for it was true. She wondered if the people of Fourtrees actually knew how bad it was in the clans. But she didn’t mind. The food was too amazing to be bothered with such a trivial matter. She moved on from the fowl to a bowl of creamy yellow soup, picking up the ladle in her teeth and dumping it into a bowl. As she lapped it up with her tongue, the taste was surprisingly sweet, and she could feel the hot soup travel all the way down to her stomach. The other tributes and mentors trickled in, and soon the room was filled with conversation. Blaze wasn’t exactly the talkative type, and focused purely on the food. Later, bellies full, Hazy and Blaze returned to their dorm and fell asleep the moment their heads touched their pillows.

 


	8. Chariot

_ a flame shines  _

_ bright _

_ when accompanied by _

_ night _

 

Blaze was awoken to a loud knock on her door. Bleary-eyed, she hobbled over to answer it. Curio stood waiting, with a large megaphone in her jaws, shouting,

**"Today's a big, big day! Come quick, and get your brother!"**

"W...Where are we going?" Blaze stuttered, blinking her eyes.

**"I'll tell you as we go! Come, quickly now!"** Hazy appeared at the doorway, and they both followed Curio, wondering what she wanted them for so early. They followed her down the elevator, and got out a story underground. Curio filled them in as they walked, and apparently they were having an appointment with their stylists.

**"Blaze, this is your room. Remember, room three-oh-two, okay? Ta-ta!"** Curio blared, and deposited her at the doorway. Before Blaze could ask any questions, off she went, Hazy following. 

 

Blaze tentatively opened the door with her muzzle. Inside the room, three cats were waiting. A small, green cat with huge, circular eyes the color of cotton candy started to speak,

“Why hello there! I am  _ so  _ excited to finally meet you! My name is Taffie, and-”

“More importantly,  _ my  _ name is Clio,” Interrupted a pastel blue tom, “I am the best-”

“No, obviously  _ I _ am the better stylist here,” Continued Taffie. “Because-”

“Stop bickering, you two! My name is Snazz, and these two mouse-brains are my assistants.” Interjected a deep brown she-cat. Her body was decorated with shimmering sequins, and she donned a gold chain that could have weighed as much as Taffie. She looked like an alien species.

Blaze smiled at the hilarity of it all. She couldn’t believe that just four sunrises ago she was back at home. Snazz gestured for Blaze to sit down, and the prep team began to circle her like hungry vultures. 

“Well, you’re a piece of work.” Clio stated, interrupting the silence. “Let's start out with washing all of this soot out of your fur.” And so, Blaze was plucked, groomed, washed, trimmed and clipped until the sun was high in the sky. She felt bare, like a bird plucked of its feathers.

 

Clio and Taffie worked and worked, with Snazz watching over the two of them, “Why don’t we add a touch of curl to that head tuft.” Chipped in Snazz, “She needs to look her best tonight.” Clio nodded and pulled out a small metal contraption, “Furdresser,” Clio addressed the thing, “Slight curl of the front fur and tail, followed by a shine.” The creature began to glow, and sprout out arms and legs. It bowed to Clio, then to Blaze, and began to work on her fur. It was done faster than Blaze would have expected, quickling finishing her fur and tail before buzzing and folding itself back up and turning off.

“Clio, Taffie, you can leave for now.” said Snazz sharply, and the two bowed and left the room.

 

Once the door swung shut, Snazz sat down next to Blaze

"Now, Blaze, did you ever watch the games at home?" asked Snazz. Blaze nodded. It was required of the clans to view the games, no exceptions. "Good. Well, today is the chariot ride. It is very important we succeed in this, because this the first impression the audience will have of you." She said. Blaze remembered watching the chariot rides. Each clan has their own chariot representing them, and the two tributes from that clan had outfits similarly themed. Sootclan's theme always revolved around coal. "So, Blaze, I've been just recently transferred to your clan. But I have seen outfits from the past. Sometimes miner outfits, sometimes bats, and other times coal. Why do you mine coal? What do you do with it?" She asked.

"Um, you burn it?" Said Blaze, not sure if the question was supposed to be rhetorical or not.

"Correct! That is what we are going to focus on this year!" Exclaimed Snazz. Blaze's eyes widened in fear. How was she going to control herself around fire in front of all these people!

"Don't worry, it won't be real fire. It's a synthetic brand Tuck and I created." Explained Snazz, seeing the expression on Blaze' face.  She must have thought Blaze was afraid to get burned. Without another word, she got to work, fitting the tight black jumpsuit over Blaze so just her face, paws and tail were showing. Her personal makeup applier, similar to Furdresser, was working away at Blaze's face. 

"We're going minimal this time," Squeaked the contraption, "We want them to recognise you in the arena. Hmm... a bit of gold to bring out your eyes, yes..." The time passed slowly, but eventually it seemed the thing was finally finished with her. 

"Look in the mirror." Snazz instructed. Blaze didn't recognise herself. She could have been an entirely different cat. The only thing that was the same were her radiant amber eyes staring back at her. She didn’t know what to say, but luckily, she didn’t have to. Snazz spoke before Blaze could open her mouth, “Now, I’ll send Taffie to bring you to the chariots. Your brother will be along soon. Taffie!”

 

Taffie grabbed her paw and dragged her over to the elevator. The two Windclan cats were standing tall and regal, and she wondered about them as the elevator rose to the ground floor. As she stepped outside, suddenly a blinding light obscured her vision. Blaze blinked and squinted furiously, trying to get the light to leave her eyes.

“Are you okay?” asked Taffie, her unnaturally salmon pink eyes curious, “Oh! I forgot.” She pulled a visor out of her shoulderbag with her teeth, alike to the one she was wearing, “Curio wanted me to give these to you, to wear for the next few sunrises before you get enter the coliseum.” Curio stuck the visor on Blaze’s head, and Blaze could finally relax her strained eyes. “Go and wait by your chariot. Snazz and Tuck will be up soon with your brother.” she strutted away, her tail flicking back and forth. Blaze walked past some of the chariots, noticing some of the other tributes looking at her, or in some cases, glaring at her. Some of them were wearing some of the ugliest outfits she had ever seen, one making the wearer look like a living building, another donning a giant thunderbolt.  _ I’m lucky I got such a good stylist. _

 

Blaze's eyes, used to dim torchlight, eventually adapted to the brightness of her surroundings. Everything was lit with huge spotlights, so when night fell the tributes could still be seen by their audience. She found her chariot at the end of the long line, accompanied by a few Windclan cats. The chariots were lined up in a row down the road, and at dusk they would parade through Fourtrees, one at a time. She studied the lineup of tributes carefully, until she caught sight of Hazy, and Tuck, Hazy’s stylist. Tuck guided Hazy to where she was standing, holding an odd metal thing in his jaws.

"How do I look?" whispered Hazy. He was wearing almost the exact same outfit as her, except fitted to his size.

"You look great." Smiled Blaze. Tuck set down the object, and nodded at the two of them.

"This is an invention that Snazz and I created. It looks quite like real flames, but cool to the touch. At the last second, I will spray this on both of you, but don't panic." He said proudly. Blaze lifted herself onto the jewel decorated chariot, and Hazy followed after her. The sound of a single gong signaled the first clan’s chariot, Stormclan, leaving the docking area. Worried, Blaze wrapped her tail around Hazy’s, like always. “Perfect! Stay that way the whole chariot ride.” Exclaimed the stylist. “It presents you as a team. United and unbreakable.” Blaze was secretly glad. She needed someone to anchor her to the chariot, or else she may fall off into the crowd. 

Before she knew it, the gong sounded twelve times, and flames haloed around her face as the chariot hovered off the ground. The platform started to move through the streets, and giant screens displayed the tributes. The moment Sootclan’s platform turned onto the main street, the camera fixed on their chariot. They were dazzling as the sun. The crowd roared as they saw them, flaming and beautiful. She smiled at the audience cheering her name. The screen flickered back to shots of Rainclan or Moonclan, but mostly fixed on her. They, the small, unremarkable clan had done something they had never seen before. They, Sootclan, were on fire.


	9. Silver

_ trust; a fickle thing _

_ do you ever know  _

_ enough to let them _

_ entrance your heart _

_ or are you just hoping _

_ you won't get stabbed _

_ again _

 

"That was simply marvellous!" Cheered Curio at breakfast the next day. "Cheers to the stylists!" Curio, Hazy, and Blaze clinked bowls. The other trainers at the table smiled bitterly, obviously jealous of their success. It was then Blaze noticed the absence of Hayfur. She tried to think of anytime Hayfur actually showed up for a meal, but nothing came to mind.  _ I wonder what he’s up to, _ she thought as she bit into a plump rabbit. Rabbit had grown to be one of Blaze’s favorite breakfasts from Fourtrees, it was nothing like she ever had at home. After breakfast, Blaze and Hazy were having a private meeting with Hayfur in his room. Blaze wasn't sure what the meeting was going to be about, and pondered as she finished the remains of her meal. Hazy stood, licking the last bit of food off of his plate, and nudged Blaze's shoulder with his muzzle,

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Sure." replied Blaze, standing up.

 

Blaze rapped on Hayfur's door with her tail. After waiting for a bit, she tried again, harder this time. 

"Hayfur! Are you in there?" Hazy shouted. Blaze heard muffled cursing from inside, and the sound of Hayfur using his scanner to unlock the door. 

"What do you two want?" Hayfur grunted, opening the door a crack. Blaze could smell his sour breath, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"You said we were having a meeting." Blaze said hesitantly. Hayfur's eyes blinked in confusion, and you could almost see the gears turning in his head. After a few seconds he seemed to seemed to recall what she was talking about,

"Right. Come in." Hayfur slumped into his room. It was similar to their room, sparing the complete mess he had made. Broken bottles littered the floor, and it smelled of so much catmint that Blaze had to wrinkle her nose in disgust, “Hayfur, how many of these have you had?” she asked, staring at Hayfur intuitively. He glared back at her, “Not enough.”

Blaze was taken aback. She knew that Hayfur was a drunk, but had never bothered to ask why he drank beer.

 

“Chair.” he called into the darkened room. Unlike her own room, a voice echoed back, “Yes, master Hayfur.” A robotic chair, covered in empty bottles, came sputtering to life, glowing with an orange light. It shook the bottles away and came running over to the three of them, followed by two others. Hayfur sat down and looked at them,

“What was this meeting about? I don’t remember.” Blaze was silent, trying to think of something, but Hazy spoke up first, 

“You were going to tell us about training and the other tributes, what kinds of weapons they have there, what the trials are like, that sort of thing.” 

Hayfur sighed, “Fine. Training will be like what you expect, but there will be more than just weapons. There will be stations for anything you can think of, basic survival, camouflage, swimming, climbing, and yes, also weapons to try. Most weapons will grasp your tail, or your paw. You can try them on in training, and all weapons have a built in users guide, so I don’t need to tell you what to do.” He paused to look at them, both of whom were bobbing their heads at his words. He continued, “You’ll be training in public with all the other tributes. They will be harsh, especially if they are Bloodclaws. They’ll try to upstage you, get on the Visor’s good sides, but you can’t let them win.” Hayfur stopped again, collecting his thoughts and then continuing, “Then there are the solitary trials. The tributes go into the training room, one at a time, and show off their best skills. Then they will give you a score from one to twelve. Try to get a high number, that way, when you’re in the heat of a battle, you can trust on some Fourtrees cat to saving your pelt.” Blaze nodded, trying to process everything he had said, when suddenly Curio walked through the open door, and with a sigh, muttered,

“Lights.” turning on the blaring light fixtures above. With a hiss, Hayfur sank to the ground, a paw over his closed eyes. “Hayfur, look at you, sulking in the dark again. Poor thing.” she cooed at Hayfur as he blinked his half shut eyes. 

“Anyway, I’m here to escort you two to the training chambers. You will be having lunch there, and return in time for Supper. Quickly now!” Said Curio, always in a hurry. Blaze and Hazy had become used to Curio’s obsession with punctuality, and scampered after her without a moment of hesitance. The training chambers were below ground, even farther down than the rooms where the stylists were. With a ding, the elevator stopped. Blaze studied the large room before her. A few lone tributes were scattered around, but all turned their heads to look when Blaze and Hazy stepped out. Tributes wandered around, talking about what they thought of things like politics, the great war, fashion, and many other things that Blaze didn’t really care about. After a while, a loud voice boomed out from the speakers,

“ **All tributes may now begin training. Thank you.** ” Gradually, the cats wandered over to the  stations, all but one cat, who approached her and Hazy.

“Hello,” he said, his voice silky, “I’m Quicksilver, but you can call me Silver.” Blaze stood stock still, unable to form the words planned in her head. Her mouth opened, then closed, like she was a fish struggling for air. Hazy smiled and shook the cat’s paw gently,

“I’m Hazyflame, and this is Blazeash.” He tipped his head closer to Silver and whispered, “She’s kind of antisocial.” Blaze grinned, trying to prove her brother wrong,

“You can call me Blaze.” She smiled, words stumbling out of her mouth. Silver smiled back, large eyes reflecting their surroundings. She studied him, trying to see if he was sincerely trying to be nice, or just bored.

“Nice name for the cat who was  _ on fire. _ That was cool. I was stuck being a giant raincloud.” Joked Silver.  _ He must be from Rainclan,  _ Thought Blaze,  _ his grey blue fur, those melted silver eyes… _ Blaze shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts, and suddenly realised she had been staring at Silver  in silence for an awkwardly-long moment. 

“So, uh… Wanna train… with us?” Blaze blurted, and Silver gave her a toothy grin, eyes crinkling,

“Of course! How about…” Silver scanned the room, “ battle training?” Before Blaze or Hazy could reply, Silver walked straight through them, “This way!”

There was only one open battle training area, for the other one was claimed by the Bloodclaw pack, Fourtrees' lapdogs. It consisted of Hurricane, Tempest, Birchpelt, Thistletooth, Littlefish, Sharkfin, and Drip. Although Drip was from Rainclan, it appeared that she had chosen to join the pack as well, what was not uncommon of cats from her clan. All were tall and muscular, with flatter muzzles than normal cats. Their eyes were darker, and their noses bigger. They glared as Blaze and the others walked by them. Tempest, the clear leader, was the first to speak, 

“Hey, Miss-Kit-on-Fire, how’s the popularity going?” The others laughed like a pack of hyenas, but Blaze ignored them, rage silently kindling under the surface. Blaze tried not to let the Bloodclaws get to her, and instead focused on the station in front of her. Silver was immediately assisting Hazy with the tail-spears and sabertoothes section of room, but those kind of weapons weren’t what Blaze was interested in. At home, Blaze used her claws and teeth for hunting, not any of these fancy weapons, and that’s what she was best at. She spotted a training dummy across the room and decided to practice on that.

 

“Swipe, swipe,” Blaze muttered to herself as she swung at the fake cat, taking out her emotions towards the Bloodclaws on it, “Tuck… and roll!” Tempest’s annoying cackles could be heard in the background as she trained, and Blaze’s irritation grew into hatred. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to tune out their taunts, but she couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

“Look at her- she’s not even doing it right!” One snickered, pointing their tail at Blaze,

“Hah, I can’t wait to see you destroy her in the arena, Tempest!” Another replied,

“It’ll happen so fast-”

“-She won’t even be able to cry out for her kit-brother!”

_ What did they just say about Hazy? _

“He’s such a flowery little runt...”

“I’ll be able to squish him under my paw!”

 

“Excuse me!?” Blaze roared, opening her eyes and turning around sharply.  _ I’m able to grit my teeth and ignore comments about myself, that’s fine, but don’t bring my brother into it. _ To her surprise, the Bloodclaws laughing stopped immediately. They stared at her, eyes wide. Actually, they weren’t really staring at Blaze. They appeared to be staring behind her. Blaze spun her head back around and saw that a hole had burned straight through the heart of the dummy she was training on. It crackled and sparked, catching other parts of it’s body on fire as well. Blaze just stood there, equally as baffled as the Bloodclaws.  _ How did I do that? _

 

The fire spread to the edges of the dummy before the Visors came, putting out the fire and hauling what was left of the thing away without a word. Most of the Bloodclaws avoided her gaze, and muttered amongst themselves. Finally, Silver spoke,

“So, how about the camouflage station?” He suggested.

“First I need to know something: are we allies or not?” Asked Blaze, remembering Hayfur’s instructions:  _ “The more allies you have, the more of a chance you have at winning.”  _

“I wouldn’t want someone who could do _that_ fighting against me” He replied, gesturing at the scorch marks on the wall, and the three of them walked to the camouflage station together.


	10. Into Flames

_ Tell them that they’re wrong _

_ Show the blind fools that _

_ to live is not to survive; _

_ it is to love _

 

**“Training is now over. Please finish at your station, then return to your dorms for dinner. We hope you have been enjoying your stay, here at Fourtrees, and that you will have a great day tomorrow at the solitary skill assessment.”** Crane, the Head Visor, boomed over the loudspeakers. Blaze turned to look at him, sitting in his own private room above, watching the training. He was a tall cat with constantly narrowed eyes, who always seemed so serious. Did he comprehend that he sent twenty-four innocent young cats to fight to the death each sun cycle, with twenty-three murdered and only one surviving?  _ That one cat will be Hazy,  _ vowed Blaze silently,  _ I promised Bee. _

“Blaze.” Hazy advised, “We ought to get moving. Curio will spazz if we’re late.” Blaze agreed, still watching Crane, then turned to Silver, 

“Nice meeting you.” He smiled playfully, then searched the room for his companion of Rainclan, Drip, the one who had been sucking up to Tempest previously. She was away from the rest of the group, talking to Tempest in a hushed voice. As Silver approached them, she dropped the conversation, body acting casual but eyes wary. Blaze observed their conversation from a distance, feeling on edge about Drip’s behavior.

“Hey, Drip! How has your training been? I saw you in the swimming station. Very impressive!” Said Silver in that charismatic, yet nonchalant way he always talked. Blaze was jealous of how easy conversation came to him. 

“Cut to the chase, Silver. What do you want from us? You said you would decide by today!” Drip barked. Silver shrugged,

“Well, that was the original plan… there has been some, er… complications. Could we extend my decision until the day before the Games?” Drip huffed at Silver’s comment, and Blaze could almost see smoke coming out of her ears.

“ _ Complications?  _ What do you mean,  _ complications? _ ” Snarled Drip, her pelt bristling. Blaze watched this all, very confused.  _ What decision? _

“Well, have you met Blaze and Hazy? They could be-” Silver was cut off by Tempest, 

“You mean you were thinking of making an alliance with that blind scrapling of a kit? You’ve got to be joking. Although, I wouldn’t mind having this fireball on our side. She could prove useful, I guess.” She sneered. Blaze put two and two together, and realized that Silver must have been offered an alliance with the Bloodclaws. 

“We’re a package deal,” Stated Blaze, approaching the group and pointing her muzzle at Hazy, “And besides, I wouldn’t want to ally with you monsters anyways.” Blaze stormed off, with Hazy following behind. They boarded the elevator together, when suddenly, Silver leaped behind her into the elevator just as the door was about to close. Blaze leaped back, tail bristling.

“Look… I want you on my team. I can tell you’ve already made up your mind, but-”

“Here’s the deal, okay? On the night before the games, tell me if you want to join the Bloodclaw pack or if you would rather join us.” Her expression softened, “Although I’ve already decided that I’m not walking out of that arena, not if I can help it. I had a good time with you, though.” Silver smiled at that, and when the door opened for his floor, he turned around to face her,

“Agreed. Good luck with your trial!” He said, and the door closed shut between them. 

 

They quickly ate dinner and then were sent off to bed. Curio had instructed them to get lots of sleep to be prepared for the assessments tomorrow, and Blaze managed to stay asleep most of the night, although nerves kept her awake often. The next morning, Blaze was awoken by the fact that she had absolutely no clue about what skill she was going to present to the Visors for the skill assessment.  She creeped over to Hazy’s nest, the question prying at her,

“Hazy?” She whispered “Hazy! Wake up!” Hazy’s tail twitched,

“Blaze… It’s so early… even for me…” He mumbled. Blaze shoved him a little with her muzzle, and he rolled out of his nest, stretching his legs and back. Once Hazy had woken up a little, she confronted the problem.

“I need advice. I have no clue what to do for my skill assessment!” She admitted. Hazy laughed,

“Use your firepower, of course! Shoot some fireballs, blow up some targets! They’ll love it.” Blaze nodded. She hadn’t thought of her ability as much of a good thing until now, but maybe it could work in her favor. 

“Okay. What are you going to present?” She asked. Hazy shrugged a little, then looked sheepish as he mumbled,

“I’m going to paint.” Blaze looked at Hazy,

“What are you going to paint?” She asked, thinking of her brother painting,

“Rose. I’ll paint Rose saving me from the underground stream, where we met.”  _ How will he paint something he hasn’t seen? _ Blaze wondered, but when she saw Hazy’s soft smile, she felt that no matter how he did it, he was going to do it with confidence.

 

Curio escorted Blaze and Hazy to the holding chambers soon after. It was a small, blank room with a chair for each tribute, and they waited there while the other tributes presented. Sootclan was always last, and the tributes left one by one until Blaze and Hazy were the only two left. 

**“Hazyflame of Sootclan, please enter the training chambers.”** Announced Crane over the loudspeakers, and with a small smile, Hazy left the room. Time dragged on and on, and Blaze became more and more nervous. Finally, her name was announced. She shakily opened the door and walked into the room. The room was the same as training yesterday, except for the large hollow two or three stories above, which was now packed with Visors. A few of the Visors turned to watch Blaze as she stepped into the room, but most didn’t even glance her way, transfixed by the platters of food in front of them. 

She shrugged her shoulders and chose a target.  _ Fire power… Go! _

Nothing happened. Not even a spark. What little attention she had from the Visors disappeared as they reverted their attention to the food. A plump chicken was being carried out by the waiter, and judging from the grumbles she heard, it was undercooked.

 

Blaze was furious. That chicken was getting more attention than her! Before Blaze knew what was happening, she moved her focus away from the target. She felt flames circling around her in the air, fury boiling in her blood. The next thing she knew, a bullet was in the air, then shooting at the Visors, and then the chicken caught on fire. The visors were agast, one violently trying to blow the fire out, another seeming to pass out onto the ground.

“Thank you for your undying attention.” Blaze griped rebelliously, and she tiptoed out the door. She hadn’t even wanted to do that, not really, but it was like her rage had its own mind. She pushed back the thought, then ran into the elevator.

 

Curio, Hayfur, and Hazy were all waiting for her in front of the elevator, 

“How did it go?” asked Hazy, very quietly. Blaze stared at him,

“Okay, I guess. They were... _surprised_ by my performance, to say the least.” Hazy nodded knowingly, but Hayfur and Curio looked confused,

“We have chicken at the table, if you’re hungry. After dinner, we’re going to watch the results!” Said Curio. Blaze felt sick. The butterflies in her stomach were making her feel like she could never eat again, “I think I’ll just go to bed, if that’s alright.”

Hazy nodded,

“Me too. Today has given me more than enough sustenance.” Curio gave them both a half smile,

“Of course, darlings. Be sure to eat plenty tomorrow at Breakfast, alright? And be sure to watch the results on your own. Your score is very crucial to getting sponsors.” The moment Curio was finished speaking, she ran off to her room. Her dark, cold, quiet room, where she could bathe, sleep, and sort through her worries in peace.


	11. The Laughter

_ They don’t hear words _

_ when you speak _

_ they hear _

_ only  _

_ what they want to hear _

 

Blaze huddled in her blankets, hiding, as if the flimsy furs could protect her against a low score. She had been awake the whole night, worrying about getting a low score in her private assessment. Once the moon was high in the sky, she heard the Fourtrees anthem, signalling her screen automatically turning on for a nationwide broadcast. Hazy jumped onto Blaze’s nest, snuggling in with her.

“Are you scared?” Asked Hazy, as Flicker started announcing the first scores.

“Maybe a little,” Mumbled Blaze, “But it’s okay.” 

The order was the way it always was: by sector, then by clan, in order from closest to farthest from Fourtrees. They said it was to keep the order the way it was at the blood drawing, but in reality, it was just blatant favoritism towards the richer clans. The Bloodclaws got scores ranging from eight to ten, and the others normally received a score of four to seven. Silver got a score of ten.  _ What did he do to get a ten? Sweet-talk the judges?   _ Finally, it was time for Sootclan’s scores. Hazy nibbled on the edge of his blanket, an old habit he’s had since he was a kit. 

**“Hazyflame of Sootlcan, with a score of… six!”** Fake applause clapped in the background, but Blaze was silent. 

“That’s better than you would expect from a blind cat painting!” Snorted Hazy, still gnawing on his blanket, and Blaze wondered how he could find something to laugh about in this situation. Now Blaze’s face showed on the screen, with the glowing number  _ Eleven? I got eleven? This can’t be- _

**“Blazeash of Sootclan, with a score of… eleven!”** Hazy grabbed Blaze in a tight bear hug.

“What did you do to get an eleven?” Asked Hazy.  _ I don’t know. _

 

* * *

 

“You did it, Blaze! I always had faith in you! This is simply  _ amazing! _ We’ll have to throw a party-” Curio said over breakfast, repeating the words of countless others who had approached Blaze the morning.

“What are we doing today?” Inquired Blaze, bleary eyed. She was happy about getting a good score, but had stayed up all of last night in a state of utter confusion.  _ An eleven? What is this, some kind of joke? _

“Why, the interviews are today! Oh, time to get up your brother, we have to hurry to eat so we can make it to your stylists on time! Why don’t you get him?” Curio bounced down the rest of the corridor, knocking on what Blaze assumed was Mistclaw’s door.

“Hazy?” Called Blaze into their room. “Hey, Hazy?” Hazy walked out of the bathroom,

“Oh, Blaze, I was just using the sonic shower. We have interviews today, you know.” Blaze sighed,

“I know, that's why I’m here, silly fox. Come on, Curio is waiting for us in the dining hollow. Hazy followed her, quietly shifting against the wall,

“Hey Blaze?”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking, do you really trust Silver? Like with your life, I mean.”

“I don’t really know…”

“That’s what I thought.”

The two of them fell silent for the rest of the walk, agreeing wordlessly that now was not the time.

 

Curio smiled at the two of them, “Come in, come in!” She said, gesturing to the table, “Today we have some soups and broth with noodles and-”

“I’m not so hungry today, Curio. I’ll just wait a bit.” Blaze never really felt hungry anymore. In Fourtrees, they stuffed her so full of food, she wondered why her clan was filled with reports of cats dying of hunger. Something always felt, well, wrong about the whole thing.

“Me neither.” Curio looked at the both of them with wide eyes,

“Alright, but you better eat a big lunch!” Hazy grabbed Blaze’s tail,

“I know where we can talk.”

 

They rode the elevator up to to the top of the building, and when the doors reopened, Blaze found herself facing a thriving garden on the roof. The sun was just rising over the hills, and a gentle breeze had been let in through the prominent force field that had been set up. It was the first truly beautiful place Blaze had seen in Fourtrees.

“Hazy, this place is beautiful.” Hazy didn’t answer for a while,

“Yeah, I know.” Then he sat down in the swaying grass, “Blaze, are you sure we can trust him, Silver? I know he was nice, but, aren’t the two of us enough?” Blaze sat down beside her brother, and rested her head on his back,

“I… I don’t know anymore, Hazy. I’m not sure of anything. What are we doing here? We should be home with Bee and Rose.” Hazy flinched at the name of his love, but relaxed again,

“I know Blaze, but we need to try our hardest to make it back home. Both of us. I don’t care if we have to slaughter a thousand cats, we will make it home.” Blaze shuddered at the idea of killing another cat. She wondered if she would have to kill any cat in the arena, and pushed the idea to the back of her mind. Then Blaze brought up something she had been avoiding for avoiding for awhile,

“You know we can’t both come home, right? Only one cat can win.” 

“I know that. I wasn’t talking about The Warrior Games. I don’t care about their rules. I won’t play fair if it means you can’t come home with me. You’re my sister Blaze, I need you, and you need me. We complete each other.” Blaze was silent. She couldn’t let Hazy get so attached to this idea, because she knew the only way to get him home was to get rid of everyone else, then to sacrifice herself. There was no other way.

 

The elevator zoomed down, into the dressing chambers. When she reached door 302, she opened the door hastily and sat in a small chair. Taffie bounced in her direction, 

“Good to see you Blaze!” She said cheerily, “Tuck and Snazz are talking now, but they’ll be back soon! For now, Clio and I will do your fur and touchups!” Blaze nodded, closing her eyes while Clio rubbed a sweet smelling perfume on her cheeks. Taffie was curling her fur, turning it into thin waves. She opened her eyes to look in the mirror, and found herself facing a light furred ginger cat with sparkling eyes, but not her. Not Blazeash.

“Oh my great Moonstar, you guys! How did you do this?” Blaze asked, astonished. Clio smiled,

“We call it our ‘Natural Touch Ups’. The makeup we use only adds a little spice to your natural beauty!”

Blaze sighed,  _ A little spice?   _ she thought,  _ More like a mountain. _ Snazz wandered into the room,

“Okay Tuck, now I have to tend to my tribute. You might want to tend to yours.” The door closed, and Snazz spun around, her giant eyes warm, “How are you, Blaze?” She asked,

“Good, thank you.” Replied Blaze with a sense of formality. Snazz gestured towards the door, and at her will, Clio and Taffie filed out of the room.

“Now, let's get ready. Tuck and I have been working hard, and we have created a new fabric. When it is on fire, it changes color and shape. This is your dress,” Snazz held up a pink silk dress, “And I have a plan for it.”


	12. Eyes of the World

_ They all watch _

_ judging you _

_ waiting for you to crack _

_ like dry pottery under their paw _

_ hide your fear _

_ don’t let them know _

 

Later that night, Blaze waited in a holding room for her turn on the stage. Because it was ordered by sector, then clan, she was next to Hazy, Shockpelt, Mistclaw, Darkfoot, and Amber. They were chatting away, shivering at the thought of walking up on the stage, in front of everyone in the whole forest for the first time. Soon, Darkfoot was called, then Amber, then Shockpelt, then Mistyfur, leaving just Hazy and Blaze, now silent. Hazy was the first to speak,

“Blaze…” but no more could be said, before the loudspeaker blared,  **“Hazyflame of  Sootclan, please report to the stage.”** He walked off, mumbling something to her. Before she knew it, the doors of the elevator closed, and she was alone. She pressed a small flashing button on the edge of her seat, and heard the small computer voice, 

“Hello  _ Blazeash _ . Please say what you would like to watch on the beep.” She paused, then spoke one word,

“Interviews.” Hazy’s image appeared on the comscreen, sitting on small couch next to Flicker, the popular celebrity personality and host of the interviews. The crowd was laughing, and Hazy was talking about Sootclan, and what it was like to be blind,

“ _ There was this one time that I was playing with my sister in our den, and I tripped over a rock, but she caught me. We’ve always had that kind of bond, but after that day it was different.  It was like we thought on the same wavelength, and now, we are going to fight together.”  _ Flicker and the crowd made an “Awww” sound, and Blaze could tell the interview was going very well. Hazy was looked very neutral throughout his interview, even when speaking of Rosequartz, a topic that almost always brought tears to his eyes now. Then Flicker started the wrapup of the interview, and Blaze closed her comscreen before her name was called, for she had to be ready. The loudspeaker boomed, causing Blazeash to nearly leap out of her fur,

**“Would Blazeash of Sootclan please report the the stage? Thank you.”**

 

Blaze padded shakily up to the stage,  _ Could this dress be any heavier?   _ She thought,  _ I feel like I’m dragging my entire body weight in fabric!  _ The stage was brighter than Blaze could ever have imagined. Before she even sat on the plush velvet loveseat next to Flicker, he was already talking to her,

“So Blaze,” he said in his accented voice, “What is your favorite thing about Fourtrees?” Blaze thought about everything she had been through, trying to come up with upsides to her dreary experience,

“My stylist.” she said in her best Fourtrees voice, “My amazing stylist, Snazz. Oh, and the lamb stew.” Flicker’s eyes sparkled, and the crowd laughed,

“Is Miss Snazz out in the crowd tonight?” Snazz stood up, smiled wide, and waved her tail. Flicker laughed his smooth laugh, and the crowd joined in.  _ Maybe this will be easier than I thought,  _ thought Blaze.

Flicker’s questions were endless, yet simple. He talked about Sootclan, and her fur color. He talked about training and the food, impersonal formalities. He even talked about her assessment score, a surprising eleven out of twelve.

“So, Blaze, your outfit for the chariot ride sure was a hit. And your outfit today is just as gorgeous! Will you show it to us?” Hinted Flicker, gesturing towards the audience. Blaze remembered Snazz instructing her to spin around in a circle when her dress was mentioned, and thought now would be the optimum time. 

Blaze stood, and started to spin, when flames ignited all around her. Blaze’s first instinct was to panic, but she reminded herself it was probably another one of Snazz’s fake flame concoctions. Her dress started to lose weight, and the shimmery pink gown fell to ashes beside her. Blaze lifted her eyes to one of the many screens that adorned the crowd, and the video was like a reflection. Her slim form stood, and a ring of ash surrounded her. A fitted dress was left in the other one’s place. An intricate wire headband replaced the golden tiara that was originally atop her head. She shifted in the stretchy black fabric of her dress, stopping to face the roaring audience. The headband surrounded her clan token, displaying it in all it's glory. Blaze’s stomach dropped when she realised that beautiful golden wings had begun to sprout from her back and fly into the air. The tips of the feathers were ignited in great billows of flame. Flicker looked flustered for a moment, but soon he was as calm as before, 

“Another amazing piece by Blaze’s beautiful stylist! That deserves some applause, don’t you think?” Blaze nodded, still shaken by her new appearance. As Flicker dove into a new stream of questions, Blaze didn’t notice the sudden look of worry and fear that slid onto Snowstar’s face, but only he had noticed that Blaze was not just a bird, she was a  _ phoenix _ .

"And what an interesting gemstone on your crown! Did Snazz create this?"

"N-no. It's my clan token, given to me by Olivebranch. The cat I volunteered for." Flicker opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly a horn sounded, signaling the end of the allotted time given for Blaze's interview.

She wasn’t in the least bit sad to leave the judging lights of the stage, the crowd of cats cheering behind her, having gotten over her sudden changes. Backstage, Hayfur, Snazz, and Hazy were all waiting for her, 

“Interesting.” Said Hayfur, a small smile creeping onto his face, “Snazz did well tonight.” Snazz looked clearly ruffled by the comment, but smiled at Blaze too,

“Great job, at least you weren’t difficult to work with!” Hazy was silent, mind obviously not with them, maybe not even in Fourtrees. Something was on his mind, and from the look on his face, she could tell it was something important. Blaze decided to let him think while she talked, but Hayfur was grabbing her by the scruff of her neck like a kit before she had time to take a breath,

“Good job to both of you, but now we need to head up to my flat. You need some special training, Blaze.”

 

* * *

 

Snowstar watched the tapes over and over. No other tribute had any sign of being related to the uprisings, but Blaze. Not even her brother Hazy had any connection, or the cat she had been friendly with, Silver. But Blaze had that dress, the one that had caught the eyes of every cat around the world. For the first time in a long time, Snowstar felt genuinely scared. The entire forest and all the realms beyond now knew that at least one tribute supported the uprising, so if she won, a symbol would be born. Out from the depths of his room, a voice whispered, 

“Oh, fretting are you? I told you Snow, fear is a sign of weakness.” Snowstar looked over to his right. The ghostly form of his father, Sunstar, sat smiling at him, “Now, if you really think that poor Sootclan cat will be able to overthrow you, then why not train? At least you can survive, like you did in the war with your siblings.” Snowstar glared at his father, 

“Don’t speak of those days to me. I was happy before that, loved.” Sunstar touched the pale purple crystal that hung from Snowstar’s neck,

“Aren’t you happy now?” 

“Yes.”

 

* * *

 

“Hayfur, can’t we just save this for tomorrow? I need to get some sleep-” Blaze’s complaints were quickly interrupted,

“No. No we can’t.” Hayfur rasped, “We don’t have time. And keep your voice down.” He glanced down the hall to ensure no cat was watching them before opening the door to his room and shoving Blaze in. He quickly shut the door, once again checking to see if anyone was there. Seeing Hayfur so apprehensive made Blaze uneasy.

“What are you so worried about? And what is this ‘special training’ you speak of?” Blaze questioned, shaking off her uncomfortable tiara and letting it fall to the floor with a clink.

“Shhhhhh! I told you to be quiet! I’m-We’re technically not supposed to be doing this.” Hayfur murmured, adjusting the lights to the dimmest setting. 

“Doing what?!” 

“You go into the arena tomorrow, and I think you need a little more practice with your fire power.”

Blaze glared at him,

“No I don’t. I’m tired. See you in the morning.” She walked off, leaving Hayfur alone in the dark. Hayfur shook his head,

“I hope she can make it out there. It’s not gonna be as easy as she thinks it will.” He sighed, “Oh well, it’s her life. Not much I can do.”

Outside the door, Blaze grimaced. She didn’t want any more special training, but she was scared that she wasn’t prepared enough. She had never killed before. Blaze mustered all of her strength and continued walking back to her room, trying not to think of what was to come upon waking up the next day.


	13. Into the Fray

_ Fear is hidden _

_ in the eyes of our enemies _

_ find it _

_ hide it again _

_ much like a secret _

_ but remind yourself that _

_ yes _

_ we are the all same _

 

Maybe it was the whine of Curio’s megaphone, or maybe it was the butterflies in her stomach, but Blaze was awake before Curio had time to say anything. Curio smiled a clearly fake smile and spoke through her teeth,

“You’re up… Hazy and Hayfur are eating already, and I would recommend you do the same. You won’t have this much food when you’re... out there.” She said uncomfortably before heading back out into sitting room.  Blaze followed, feeling the chill of what was to come down her spine.

 

Hayfur and Hazy were quietly waiting for her when she appeared. Both had plates covered in food, but no one was eating anything, not even Curio. Blaze sat down and piled various meats onto her plate, but unlike the others, began to eat. When Hayfur started to stare, Blaze paused, 

"Curio's right you know, we won't have this much food out there. We won't eat too much, just enough to keep us alive for longer." Hayfur smiled, nodding at Blaze, while Curio just looked dumbfounded. Curio excused herself from the table, and Hayfur turned to Blaze, "Don't follow her. It'll just make it worse." 

 

When Curio returned, she was once more her happy-go-lucky self, but underneath her thick layer of makeup, Blaze could see the tracks of where she had been crying.

“C’mon, let’s go, it’s time to meet with your stylists, they have the new outfits for you!” Curio announced, bouncing to the elevator and waited only for a moment before impatiently calling out, “Ahem, we have to leave. Now.” Blaze and Hazy hurried after her, and the doors closed behind them, for the last time. As the elevator sunk into the depths where the stylist chambers were, Blaze felt a sinking feeling in her stomach that she hadn’t noticed before.

 

* * *

 

Snazz sat beside Blaze in the white walled holding room. Blaze took small sips from her pool of water as Snazz stared at the blank wall, biting her lip. Blaze was fitted with a thin black jumpsuit like all the other tributes, complete with her token pinned to her chest. The Phoenix stone, as Olivebranch had called it. Suddenly, the door in the clear tube in front of them opened. Snazz nudged Blaze with her tail, "Well, looks like it's time... time to... you know-" 

Blaze interrupted Snazz to stop her from having a meltdown. "Alright. See you soon?" She gulped nervously before entering the tube.The cold door closed around Blaze. Her paw touched the wall as she waited and waited, but the elevator didn’t move up,  _ What’s going on?  _  she thought, but before she could try to think of an answer, two hefty Strongteeth ran into the holding room, facing Snazz. Snazz looked back for only a second, before being clawed and bitten until she was on the ground in a pool of her own blood, 

“Snazz!” Blaze shouted. Blood was all over the room and the outside of the elevator, and as the Strongteeth dragged Snazz's limp body out of the room, the tube began to rise into the arena.

 

Blaze slammed her body against the side of the tube, watching the blood stained room disappear below her. “No! Stop! Wait! SNAZZ!” 

The tube arrived in the arena, and all the other tributes were already waiting on their platforms. Blaze looked around the arena. A forest to the east, a large lake to the west, and what seemed to be a field in the distance. Directly in front of her was a gigantic golden horn shining in the sunlight, filled with and surrounded by weapons, food, and other assorted items. A loud voice boomed over the circle of tributes, **“I apologise for the technical difficulty! Let's return to the countdown** . **_Ten, nine, eight, seven…_ ** ” Blaze took a breath. There was no time to think of what just happened, everything was happening too fast.“ **_Two… One… GO!_ ** ” Her tube sunk down, leaving just an empty platform. Now was the time to run.

 

Tributes sped past, some heading for the cornucopia, while others sprinted into the forest, their muscles bursting with speed. Only she had not moved, and only just realised that a younger cat, fixed with a sabertooth around his jaws, was running at her, anger, fear, and pain all fluctuating in his eyes. He lunged for her neck with his metal mandibles, and Blaze screamed, twisted and ducked all in one motion. Adrenaline surged through her as she ran in a burst of energy right past him, knocking the tom over. The Bloodclaws were already circling the cornucopia. The only way to go was towards the woods. 

 

Blaze ran through the woods, empty pawed.  _ I'm such a mouse brain! If I was paying attention earlier, I could've gotten something. Well, it's too late now.  _ Pine trees sped past her, and Blaze didn't look back. There wasn't time. After a long streak of running, Blaze stopped to catch her breath. No one was following her. The path she was following seemed to slope uphill.  _ Good. I can see the whole arena from uphill.  _ Blaze continued on, this time at a jog. She only traveled a few tail lengths before she stopped again. She thought she heard a noise. Looking around and spotting nothing, Blaze resumed her pace. That is, until she remembered Hazy. Opening her mouth in shock, Blaze sank to the forest floor.  _ He could be dead! I didn't even think of him!  _ A pang of regret and fatigue hit her.  _ I just lost Snazz. They can't take Hazy too!   _ "Hazy!" Called Blaze without thinking, before clutching her paw over her mouth. Now anyone nearby knew her location.  _ What have I done?  _ Blaze stood still, unsure of where to go. Suddenly a small voice from above replied,

"Blaze?" She looked up into the tree tops. Sure enough, a pale grey shape peered down at her.  _ I knew I heard something!  _

"Hazy!" Blaze cheered, "I thought had I lost you! Here, I'll come up." Blaze climbed up to the branch Hazy was clinging to, relief flooding over her. Tears welled in her tired eyes, and Blaze let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in.  _ Snazz… _

Blaze was shaking, and Hazy wrapped his small, pale paw around her. She let out a choked sob, and quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes,

“Hazy… I thought…”

“Hey, it’s okay. Do you want me to fill you in?”

“That’d be…” Blaze trailed off, before picking up again, softer, “I’d like that.”

"Well get this-when the countdown was over, I was given a backpack. One second I was standing there and the next there was a pack at my feet and a voice guiding me.Then you screamed, and I grabbed the pack and ran towards you. I think we separated paths there, you were way ahead of me. I had no clue where you were going! All I knew was that I needed to camp out somewhere until you found me. I don't know how I got ahead of you, must've taken a different path-" Blaze wrapped her tail around Hazy.

"All that matters now is that we're together. What's in the backpack?" She asked, and unzipped it with her teeth. Inside was a sleeping nest, a package of dried fish, an empty water bottle, a roll of twine, and a tail spear.

"Do you think we should set up camp here for the night?" Hazy asked, comfortable in his little hiding place.

"Well, the sun is still high in the sky. And we need water." Replied Blaze matter-of-factly. Hazy agreed, and returned the contents to the bag, aside from the tail spear, which he pawed over to Blaze. She attached the band of the sharp object to the end of her tail easily with her teeth, in case anyone decided to approach them. As they descended down the tree, Blaze wondered what Quicksilver was doing.  _ Did he side with the Bloodclaws? He never told me like he said he would.  _ Blaze shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.  _ Why should I care? _ But with that thought, Blaze found that she did care. That frustrated her, so Blaze focused instead on finding a place to camp. 

 

It was slow going, but they had travelled a good distance by the time the sun started to set. They each gnawed on a piece of fish as they walked, also keeping an eye out for dinner. A whisper from Hazy interrupted the silent forest,

"Blaze! I hear something rustling in the bushes!" He whispered, pointing his muzzle towards Blaze's right side. Sure enough, Blaze spotted a rabbit. She sank low to the forest floor in a hunting crouch, stalking the creature slowly. The rabbit didn't even know what hit it when she pounced on it, claws killing it instantly. It was plump, good meat.

"Hazy, can I trust you to go set up camp in a tree? I'll roast this rabbit." Hazy replied by swinging the backpack over his shoulder and grabbing a tree branch. Blaze roasted the rabbit slowly with her paws, trying to control her power and not burn the rabbit. She burnt a few of the leaves nearby, but it was nothing major.When it was finished, Blaze ascended the tree to where Hazy had set up camp. They shared the rabbit, leaving a bit for the next day. 

“I have an idea, can you help?” Hazy requested, ripping off his belt and holding it out to Blaze.

“Hmm?”

“Can you tie my belt around the sleeping nest and the branch? Then we won’t fall out when we’re sleeping.” 

“Why are you so smart? I never would’ve thought of that.” Blaze praised, “Here, I’ll use mine too.” She did as Hazy instructed before settling in beside him. The sun had just slipped behind the trees, but some light still remained in the indigo sky above them. Or, rather, the indigo forcefield.

 

Blaze found she had a little time to think about today's events as they rested. She found herself repeating Snazz's death over and over in her head.  _ Why? Why did they kill her?  _ The only reason Blaze could think of was the Phoenix costume Snazz had her wear during the interview. A Phoenix was the symbol of the rebellion against Fourtrees, because of the Flame sector's uprising.  _ I didn't sign up to be part of the rebellion! Why me?  _

Unanswerable questions swarmed around in Blaze's thoughts. Suddenly, the Fourtrees logo blazed on the sky above her, anthem booming. It was time to broadcast the deaths of the first day in the arena. As the logo faded, it was replaced by a dark grey-blue she-cat that Blaze recognised as Starwing, from Moonclan. After her, was Mistclaw, the quiet one from Blaze’s own sector, and Brightheart, a stumpy orange manx from Sunclan. Lastly, Whiskerwings, the cream tom of Windclan. As the sky returned to darkness, Blaze saw Hazy hanging his head. 

“What is it?” She asked. He looked back up into the sky,

“Blaze, you said that Starwing died?” Blaze nodded, watching as a silver shone tear streaked down Hazy’s face, “She was the one that gave me the backpack. She said that I needed it more that she did, and then she protected me as I ran into the forest with her supplies.” Hazy curled his head into his paws before whispering, “Do you think it’s my fault that she’s dead?” Blaze tipped her head into Hazy’s shoulder, 

“I don’t know, Hazy.”

Only the pitying moonlight rained down on them as they drifted to sleep.


	14. Golden Tears

_ Smile _

_ let your voice be heard _

_ I am not  broken; _

_ heart  frozen; _

_ no _

_ you are the one unchosen _

_ let it be known _

 

_ Darkness and death swam around Blaze like fish. They bit at her toes and dug themselves into her heart and brain. She coughed, blood spewing from her mouth. She saw Hazy, the one she cared for most, slipping to the ground, and into his own blood, followed by her own broken body, her eyes opened wide. The blood trailing from her became a river, twisting through the trees, burning all that it touched. Hayfur, Curio, Snazz, and her mother were all melting into the river, sinking below her sight. Blaze screamed and grabbed at her friends and family, so far away now that they were like dolls.  _

 

Morning’s first light woke Blaze from her slumber, and she was happy to be out of her nightmare. Hazy was nibbling on dried fish that had been tucked into the backpack, just beneath the tree they had slept in. Blaze jumped down from the tree and strolled over to Hazy, sitting down next to him, 

"Hazy, you okay?" Hazy just nodded, mouth closed, then shoved a piece of fish in Blaze's direction and returned to nibbling at the edges of his piece. Blaze curled up beside him, but didn't eat. She had too much to think about, and as soon as Hazy finished, they had to get moving, to find a water source.

 

Hazy nudged Blaze back into reality, 

"Blaze, we have to get going." He meowed, his eyes filled with worry, "We spent all night here, and I'm sure Quicksilver and the others will be hunting for us by now." Blaze blushed slightly at the notion that she had fallen asleep thinking about all of these things,

"Okay," she said softly, "I'll pack the backpack if you listen for intruders." Hazy agreed, but before he could find a position in one of the trees, Blaze pulled Hazy into a quick hug, remembering something that could cheer Hazy up.

"Hazy, I almost forgot!" Cheered Blaze,"If I'm counting right, seven sun cycles into the third moon of the sun cycle, it's your birthday!" Hazy turned around and hugged Blaze back, beaming,

"You're right, Blaze! I can't believe I forgot! I'm three sun-cycles old now." He purred, puffing out his chest with pride. Suddenly, Blaze saw something shiny in the corner of her eye. Jumping to her feet, Blaze prepared to defend her brother. But on further inspection, the twinkle was not an enemy's weapon. In fact, it was something in the sky! Blaze squinted at the foreign object falling towards her paws. A tiny parachute, attached to a shining metal container.  _ A gift from a sponsor?  _ Blaze called Hazy over, and the parachute landed softly in the pine needles. Blaze grabbed the container, peeling the lid back with her claws. Inside was a warm, seemingly fresh baked roll. Blaze marveled at the softness of the bread, something she was much unused to at home in Sootclan.

"We'll have a birthday feast! Remember my last birthday? Remind me, what did we do?" Beamed Hazy with delight, smelling the bread.

"You were there, wouldn't you remem-" Hazy put a paw over Blaze's mouth and whispered in her ear,

"The audience wasn't there. Maybe we'll get more bread if they like the story." Blaze looked puzzled at first, but then replied,

"Oh, I remember your second birthday! Let's walk while we talk." She said, and swung the backpack over her shoulder.

 

They continued on their path uphill, searching for water. Blaze knew that the best place to find water was downhill, but perhaps from high up enough they could spot a stream. Besides, it gave Blaze peace of mind to have the advantage of being uphill from possible enemies. 

"I remember it was your birthday, and I was out hunting in the caves, when a friend of mine, Honeyfur, you know her, the baker's daughter?" Blaze began.

"Yeah! Honey was always nice. She didn't make fun of me like some of the other cats my age."

 

“Okay, so...

 

It was a hot summer’s day in Sootclan, and Blaze was taking a small break, leaning against a stalagmite.  _ Today is Hazy’s second birthday. I suppose I’ll get him a  nice meal or something from the market.  _  Suddenly, a voice pierced through the thick silence, making Blaze jump to her paws,

“Blazeash! Blazeash! I need your help!”

“What’s going on!? Is Hazy okay!?” Blaze yelled back, sprinting in the direction of the voice. A dull yellow she-cat was running through the caves towards her, out of breath.

“No-He’s fine…” Honeyfur paused and took a deep breath, “I just saw an injured deer outside… I’m no good at hunting, but if you kill it for me, I’ll split the profits with you!”

“Is it still there?” Blaze asked.

“I don’t know…”

“Then we need to get going if we want to catch it!” Blaze replied hastily, ready to go, and the two of them dashed through the tunnels to the outside world. They crawled through the bracken and brush until they arrived at a small clearing.

“There she is.” Honeyfur whispered. The two of them marvelled at the rare sight. A young deer, about one year old, was lying down in the grass. One of it’s legs was obviously hurt, twisted and bloody. Her big, beautiful  brown eyes stared off into the distance.  _ She looks so peaceful. _

“Are you gonna do it?”

Blaze hesitantly rose to her feet, almost having second thoughts. But then she thought of Hazy, and she barreled into the clearing, unsheathing her claws and pouncing onto the doe. It didn’t know what hit it.

Together they dragged the body into the market. They sold it to highest bidder, and even with the two of them splitting it, it was the most money Blaze had seen in her entire life.

So she thanked Honeyfur and went to browse the market stalls, looking for something to get for Hazy. She walked past old Sagewhisker’s canary pen, and one little bird struck her interest. Its shoulder was damaged, and it looked just miserable.  _ Hazy can fix it. I know he can. _

“What are charging for the cripple?” She asked Sagewhisker. The old she-cat looked surprised,

“Same as the rest of ‘em.” She grunted.

“Aw c’mon, it’s deformed! You’ve gotta give me a discount. Please?” Blaze pleaded, trying her best puppy eyes (and not succeeding).

“Better luck next time, missy.” She insisted dismissively. Blaze hung her head in defeat, about to go find a cheaper alternative. She needed to save most of her money for food. Hazy would understand.

“Hey!” Blaze spun around to see Honeyfur butting in front of her and leaning over the counter, “It’s her little blind brother, Hazy’s birthday today! Can’t you just be nice for once and give her a price reduction?” Sagewhisker’s jaw dropped,

“Hazyflame is your brother?”

“Yeah.” Blaze spat, still annoyed at Sagewhisker’s greed.

“Hazy’s such a sweet little thing…He comes by here just to chat with me and sing with the songbirds. He has a voice of a starling. Nothing like you.” Sagewhisker grumbled, “Well, if it’s for him, then I’ll half the price. Happy?”

 

Blaze was astonished at Sagewhisker’s sudden change of heart.  _ Hazy has such an effect on everyone. He doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. Of course Sagewhisker likes him. Everyone does. _

She smiled wistfully, “Thank you.”

 

Then I rushed her home to see if you could save her!" Blaze continued.

"And I did. It was hard bandaging that tiny bird, but it ended up working. I named her Feathers, and she was the best birthday present ever!" Hazy chimed in, smiling at the cheerful memory. 

"But she wasn't just a pet. Feathers ended actually ended up being useful. In Sootclan, canaries are used to detect leaked poisons found deep underground when mining. When the canary stops singing, you know you have to leave. In extreme cases, the canary will drop over dead. Any longer, and you will too." Said Blaze, more to the cameras than to Hazy.

"Luckily that never happened to me when I went underground." Hazy assured. A few moments later, Hazy's theory was confirmed. Another silver parachute was falling in their direction, so Blaze knew that the audience in Fourtrees watching the Warrior Games on their comscreens enjoyed her story. 

 

Blaze opened the parachute container once it landed, and inside was a beautifully roasted whole chicken, and a small wax candle.  _ Ha. This must be from the game makers.  _ Thought Blaze, reminiscing on her problematic training assessment. Blaze was careful to keep the contents dry of any mud, and put the parachute in their backpack.  _ Wait a moment... Mud?  _

"Mud, Hazy, Mud!" Blaze bubbled, jumping up and down.

"What? Yeah, there's mud here. So?" Replied Hazy.

"Mud means water! There has to be water around here somewhere!" Answered Blaze, ears perking up. Hazy stood up and immediately started searching for a water source nearby, and Blaze did the same. Shortly after the two found a stream, pouring from a source on the very top of the steady mountain they seemed to be climbing. They drank and drank, not realizing how thirsty they had been. 

Blaze filled the water bottle, and they both thought it would be a good idea to break for lunch. 

 

Blaze stuck the candle into the bread, lighting it with her fire power (and scorching it a bit). Hazy blew it out, just like they were at home. The two of them gleefully feasted on the chicken and bread, carefree and maybe even happy, if for a moment.

“Did you make a wish?” Blaze inquired,

“Yeah!”

“What was it?”

Hazy sighed,

“I wish that I’ll get to see Rose again.”


	15. A Broken Promise

_ Promises _

_ are little lies _

_ we make to help us forget _

_ we can’t live forever _

 

When Blaze awoke the next day, Hazy was still sleeping soundly, his paw covering his nose, like he did when they were kits. It was only then that she realised how much he had changed in the short time they had been away from Sootclan. He was a bit bigger, and his senses had been getting better and better, for now he could smell a rabbit from many tree lengths away. Maybe he’d always been like this, and Blaze hadn’t noticed. But his little habits, like his blanket-nibbling and his paw-to-nose sleeping still remained. The nest they had built reminded her of home, made with rocks and bits of dry grass. She wouldn't have been surprised to find that her mother had made the nest, if she didn’t have the memories of building it on the riverbed with Hazy.

 

The backpack, now full of presents from sponsors, weighed heavily on the little tree branch that they had hung it from. It sagged down, threatening to fall on Hazy and wake him from his happy dream. Blaze pushed the bag back onto the branch, all the while mumbling about how only  _ she  _ was allowed to wake Hazy up in any way, not a stupid pack. They had set up camp in a tree close to the stream they had found. Before jumping down from the tree, Blaze grabbed the bag of fish jerky and counted how many if held. Only four ropes left, so they would have to break them into smaller portions. It was as she was thinking about this that she heard the crack of a stick from the forest,

"Hazy." She murmured softly, "Hazy, wake up." As always, Hazy was a sound sleeper, so Blaze moved on to something more drastic. She nipped his ear, feeling a twitch between her jaws as Hazy shifted beneath her,

"What is it Blaze?" He asked drowsily, and rather loudly for the situation,

"Be quiet, Hazy. Listen." Then she heard it again, a crack from the woods, "It's probably a rabbit or something, right? I mean, it's not like we're being... followed. Hazy, tell me I'm overreacting." Hazy turned to her,

"Blaze, I know what prey sounds like. That's much too loud to be anything smaller than us." She felt a snake-like paw curl around her throat, 

"Boo."

 

Blaze knew who it was before she saw them. It was the Bloodclaws coming for her, because she was their best competition. Tempest stood before her, scarred and laughing, her eyes wide and bright, "Hello Blaze, how are you? I'm good, because now I get to kill you and your brother." Tempest leaned in, her sharp yellow teeth glowing. Blaze tried to move, but another Bloodclaw emerged from the bushes behind her nest and held on to her. Another one of them grabbed Hazy by the scruff of his neck.

"Don't touch him!" Yowled Blaze, trying and failing to squirm free the Bloodclaw's tight grip. She looked up to see who it was. Hurricane, the brawny male tribute from Stormclan, stared at her, smiling. Tempest turned to Blaze, her eyes shining with rage and joy,

“There is only one way to make sure I can’t lose, only one path to your heart. Only one way I know you won’t burn me to ashes.” She reached out her paw to a Bloodclaw Blaze didn’t recognise, and was given a pair of metal claw extensions. Tempest reached her paw to Hazy’s throat, “Through your brother!” Tempest ripped at Hazy’s neck, blood spilling onto the ground. Tempest tossed Hazy's limp body aside, and his eyes went wide, small body falling to the ground. “Let her go.” said Tempest, laughing, “She won’t follow.”

 

Blaze ran to her brother as soon as she was let go, and felt a gentle jittering from Hazy’s body, he was still barely alive, “No. No, Hazy, you can’t leave me here... Hazy!” Blaze pawed at her brother’s face, stained with fresh blood, “Hazy, think of Rosequartz, she’s waiting for you back home, she and our mother. They’re all waiting for you,  _ just stay with me _ !” Blaze shook her brother’s body frantically, "Look at me Hazy! You need to wake up! You need to… please Hazy…. just let me hear you one more time, I don’t want to have lost you so… fast… open your eyes… Hazy… I… I love you…. so much…” Blaze let her brother fall from her grip and curled up next to his still warm, shivering body. A silence fell across her, and Blaze’s eyes fluttered close,

“I… I did good… didn’t I Blaze?” Hazy whispered with his last breaths. Blaze licked his face softly,

“Yeah, little bro… you did really good.” Blaze nudged Hazy's eyes closed, and lay his body by the riverbed. A cannon fired in the distance. She lay there beside him, sobbing, not letting the hover tram take Hazy's body away.  _ This can't be happening. Everything happened too fast. I could've done something to save him. But I didn't. Let them take me now, so I may join my brother in the sky. _

 

Blaze lay beside Hazy for long time. In the night sky, her brother’s face mingled among the faces of the other dead. Her’s was not among them. As the sunlight peeked over the trees, Blaze was filled with rage. The Bloodclaws had taken everything that she loved, but hadn’t the hearts to send her with him. They would pay. With Hazy’s spirit by her side, she was going to make them suffer for their crimes. Flames flickered around Blaze's paws as she planned Tempest's slow, agonizing death. She stood up against the night sky, blind with her anger. All that was on her mind was revenge. 

 

Blaze followed the Bloodclaw's paw prints. They obviously weren't trying to cover up their tracks, and after a painful half sunrise or so, Blaze found their camp. She hid silently in the bushes, observing the joyfulness of her brother's murderers in disgust. The seven of them were crowded around a fire, eating and telling jokes. Suddenly, Blaze saw another cat enter the clearing. Silver strolled over to Tempest, who looked surprised by his appearance.  _ What is he doing here? He wasn't with the Bloodclaws before. _

"Silver! You decided to join us after all. Decided not to team with the lump of coal? Smart choice." Smirked Tempest. Silver's face darkened at Tempest's remark, and replied,

"I'm not here to join you. However, I want to discuss-" Tempest interrupted Silver,

"Oh, loosen up Silver! Why don't you come celebrate with us. We just killed the Cat on Fire's scrapping of a brother. That really set her off-" 

 

Tempest couldn't even finish her sentence before Blaze barreled in the clearing, flaming and lunging straight at Tempest.

"Blaze?" Silver sputtered in shock. Blaze ignored him, and pounced right on Tempest. "You killed my brother!" Blaze hissed.

Hurricane knocked Blaze over to save Tempest, and Blaze shot a fireball directly at his face. Hurricane twisted, and she ended up burning his shoulder instead. Hurricane winced, and in his off moment, Blaze jumped on him, bringing the burly tom to the ground, biting his throat. Suddenly, somecat pounced on Blaze from behind. They clawed Blaze's back before she could roll away. Turning around, Blaze saw that her attacker was Thistletooth, of Thornclan. Flames circled around Blaze, and she tried to focus them on the beige she-cat. But the rest of the Bloodclaws, aside from Hurricane, were surrounding her. She was hopelessly outnumbered.  _ I suppose I got what I wanted.  _ Thought Blaze,  _ At least I can die knowing I took some of them down with me.  _ Thistletooth prepared to attack Blaze, backed by the rest of the pack.

 

All of a sudden, Silver knocked down Thistletooth. He clawed her across the neck, and Blaze was too stunned to move. 

"Run! I'll distract them!" Silver hollered, and Blaze bolted in opposite direction. She ran and ran, not in any particular direction besides away. Blaze didn't look back, not wanting to waste the time Silver had provided.  _ Why? Why would he want to help me?  _ Blaze's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone running in her direction. Blaze picked up her pace, sprinting at breakneck speed. Suddenly a voice called out,

"Wait up!" Shouted Silver as he pulled up behind her, "That was a mouse-brained idea. You really thought you could take the Bloodclaws on your own?"  _ Oh. It’s just Silver. _

"I wasn't planning on living to tell the tale." Admitted Blaze as she slowed down to his speed, "Are they following us?"

"I don't think so. You killed Hurricane, and I took Thistletooth. I hurt Sharkfin pretty bad too before I ran out of there." Blaze nodded at Silver, and they ran in silence, in no particular direction except away from the Bloodclaws. After a while, Silver interrupted the quiet,

"So. Are we allies?" He asked. It was the same question Blaze had asked him in the training quarters.

"Well, that depends. Can I trust you?"

"I think you can." Replied Silver with a grim, but sincere smile. His smile made Blaze feel something deep down in her gut that she knew he was trustworthy, and maybe something more,

"I think I can too." 


	16. Tears Like Fire

_ Rage _

_ is the  fire _

_ that  burns through our blood _

_ it  haunts us in the dark _

_ we will not stand down _

_ if controlled _

_ it will not stain us _

_ revenge will _

 

It was only once they had set up camp far into the woods today that Blaze and Silver noticed the thick flow of blood coming from the wounds on Blaze's back. In the heat of the moment, they had both passed off Thistletooth's attack as just a light one, but her claws had been equipped with steel extensions, Silver remembered. Blaze lay in her nest, feeling the pain in her back for the first time. Her eyes wandered over to Silver.With the small silver tom fast asleep beside her, she only felt worse.  _ He shouldn’t be here. Hazy should. _ A pang of loss and guilt hit her, for Blaze felt her brother's death was her fault. Silver was an outsider, and yet there he was, sleeping soundly in her brother's paw-made nest. 

 

Blaze felt a smile drift onto her face. When asleep, Silver did look a lot like Hazy, very small and needy, face stripped of his normal confident, charismatic mask. Blaze shamefully suppressed the butterflies in her stomach as she realized that they slept so close to each other, and she tried to push back whatever trust he had earned from her. Blaze longed to be able to trust him, but she only allowed the tiniest flicker of hope in the back of her mind.  _ If we were anywhere else but here,  perhaps we could be friends.  _ Blaze pondered,  _ Or more. _ Blaze shook her head at that last thought, and turned away from Silver's resting body.

 

Blaze shed her dirty jumpsuit and scrubbed it off in the river. She washed the caked blood and dirt off her pelt as well, trying to rub away all memories of the previous day. The morning light reflected on something shiny attached to the thick, black fabric. Blaze's clan token.  _ This hasn't brought me any luck at all,  _ Blaze frowned,  _ but it's all I have from home. _ It had been glued to a bronze backing and a pin by her stylists, attaching it to her jumpsuit. A voice from behind Blaze jarred her from her thoughts,

"There you are!" Said Silver with a smile, leaping into the river next to her. "I woke up, and you were gone!"

"Oh. Sorry." Replied Blaze, gently placing her clothes on a sunny rock to dry. Silver did the same. Blaze sat down on the riverbed, swishing her tail in the water. Her amber eyes were glazed over in deep thought. After a long silence, Blaze turned to Silver.

"Who's dead?" Blaze asked flatly. 

"W-what?" Silver said with a concerned look towards Blaze.

"I haven't watching the sky for the last two nights. Who's dead, besides... Besides..." Blaze's lip quivered, and she looked away.

"Oh. Well, Tumbleweed, Eclipse, both cats from Iceclan, Darkfoot… Oh, and Shockpelt." Informed Silver. 

"Darkfoot. Shockpelt. They were in my sector. I knew them. And now they’re gone." Balze sighed. Silver had done an awful job of trying to cheer her up. 

"Blaze... I'm sorry. I didn’t know…” Blaze put on her best smile,

“It’s fine. How could you know? It’s not like you killed him anyway.” Silver nodded, seeing through her fake smile. She was losing everyone and everything she knew. 

"Anyways, I made some breakfast. In your interview, you said the stew was your favorite. I tried my best, now all we have to do is cook it." Silver said, getting out of the water and shaking off. A few tail lengths away was a parachute container.  _ He watched my interview?  _ Silver grabbed the container in his jaws and brought it over to Blaze. 

"Some fish jerky and chicken from your bag, and some root vegetables I found, and some water. And I added some crackers from my food supply. We should sort through it soon. Can you use that fire thing of yours?" Asked Silver, beaming at his creation. It looked odd, but Blaze had learned to eat anything back at home. Silver was obviously proud of it. 

"Sure," Agreed Blaze. "But you might want to step back. Just in case."

"In case of what?"

"Sometimes I lose control of my... power. You saw what happened in the training quarters." Silver nodded and stepped back. This time, Blaze controlled her power pretty well, aside from scorching nearby grass with her tail. She poured half of the stew into the lid, and placed it on the ground with her teeth, keeping the rest for herself. Blaze's shoulders drooped, and she suddenly felt drained of all her energy. Using her gift when she was this emotionally strained was hard, especially while trying not to kill Silver in the process. 

 

Blaze took a hesitant sip of the murky soup. The fish jerky was tough as leather, and the broth was extremely salty. It tasted like her own tears.

"How is it?" Questioned Silver with a hopeful expression. 

"Um... Great?" Lied Blaze, licking around her mouth. It wasn’t the best thing she had tasted, but it was far from the worst. Silver beamed, and scarfed up his portion. Bellies full, the two of them rested against a tree. 

"What's your strategy? There's fifteen dead, which means there's nine tributes left. Seven possible enemies out there. Five are Bloodclaws. Are we just going to let them hunt us down? It won’t be too hard for them to track us down..." Blaze trailed off.

"Maybe today can just be a rest day, and then we can continue the direction you were going before, until we get to the force field. From there, well, I don't know." Silver replied hesitantly.  _ I thought he had a plan.  _ Blaze admitted to herself. 

"Better than nothing, I guess. Let's go through our supplies." Blaze decided, shifting her weight onto her paws and standing. 

"Sit back down, you're hurt. I can get the packs. You stay here." Silver insisted, before padding off in the direction of their camp. Blaze begrudgingly sat back down, having no other choice. Silver returned with a satchel on his back and Blaze's in his jaws. Blaze poured out the contents of her bag. A sleeping nest, a half empty water bottle, and a spool of twine was all that remained. Silver's bag also contained a water bottle, along with a package of crackers, more vegetables, and a locket. Blaze eyed the locket as she pressed her paw on the lid of the water bottle. A stream of water sprayed from the lid, and she lapped it up gratefully. Silver noticed Blaze's inquiring gaze as she drank,

"It's my district token. It was made in Fourtrees long ago. I don't know how my family got their paws on it, but it's the only pretty thing I own." Revealed Silver. He pressed the locket to his CLARUS tracker on his forearm, much like you would a weapon or a hologram, and the locket popped open. On the left side, his own face flickered. On the right side, only the smooth metallic surface was showing.  _ I thought he would've had a lover back at home.  _

"Why don't you have a picture on the other side?" Blaze asked,

"Coming from Fourtrees, it's magic. I haven't found someone I love yet, but when I do, I think their face will be on the other side." Answered Silver, pawing the locket back into his bag and quickly changing the subject. 

 

Soon a fake night fell over the arena, and together, Silver and Blaze watched the stars. The Fourtrees logo shone through the trees, but no faces appeared. Although the other cats in this arena were her enemies, Blaze was secretly grateful. She didn’t want any more death. Blaze's sleeping nest had plenty of room for the two of them. She felt more tired than she'd ever felt before. She snuggled up against Silver's soft, warm fur before she realized what she was doing. But Silver didn't move away. The echo of a smile crossed Blaze's face, and they drifted off to sleep.


	17. Ambivalence

_ To love again _

_ is to brave death _

_ to fall again _

_ To let yourself be lost _

_ in another’s eyes _

_ again _

_ but still remember _

_ is to challenge _

_ who we are _

 

Silver shook her awake the next morning, a look of panic on his face, "Blaze, I need you to stay here. We’re out of food. I'm going to the river to fish, okay?" Mind spinning, Blaze nodded, not quite processing what he was saying. Her pain was much worse than the previous day, and that added to the fact that she was still half-asleep made it hard for her to think straight. One thought floated around in her brain, _ That wasn't the plan...  _ Blaze's incomplete notion slipped from her mind, and she felt her body slip into a ragdoll position as she drifted back asleep.This time, it was different.

 

_ I spotted a mouse in the corner of the cave. I leaped into the air, but when my paws landed, it's body disappeared. My stomach growled. I needed to catch that mouse. I saw it again, this time clinging to some moss on the wall. I swiped at it with my paw, but again, it disappeared! Now I was angry. It reappeared on the cave ceiling, much too high for me to reach, teasing me with it's tail. I lashed out with burning flames, and the charred mouse's body fell before me. I delivered the finishing blow. It's body changed as it bled, it grew larger, its muzzle longer, and pelt furrier. Hazy's blue eyes stared at me in the mouse's new form, then closed. I screamed in terror. My world spun around me as the flames I created circled around Hazy and I. I cried, not tears, but more fire. I clutched my throat, coughing up blood and smoke. My screams were silenced by the crackling of flames. _

 

When she woke again, it was to the soft sponging of a thick poultice on her wounds. Blaze's eyes were thick and heavy, but when she opened them, she saw a small, coffee-colored she-cat before her,

"Shhhhhh..." Whispered the cat gently, "Don't move. I'm trying to help you." Blaze instinctively  jumped back, putting a paw over her wound. She immediately regretted that decision, stumbling back into the tree and falling to the ground. A pair of large eyes curiously looked down at her. Her small frame leaned towards Blaze with a look of curiosity across her face,

"Do you need some help?" She offered with a gentle smile. Blaze brushed herself off, and cringingly stood up.  _ Even with my wounds, I could take her in a fight.  _ Thought Blaze, scanning the smaller cat reassuringly.

"I'm fine, really. What are you doing here, and why are you trying to help me?" Responded Blaze.

"Well, I can't survive on my own, and neither can you with that nasty injury. So I thought we could be allies. I was trying to start on the right paw by healing you." Said the unknown tribute, "And you weren't hard to find. I've been up in a tree watching you for quite a while. I just had to wait until the silver one left. If you turned on me, I could escape. But him... I don't think I could outrun a cat from Rainclan."

The thought of being observed sent shivers down Blaze’s spine, but the small cat was clearly no threat to her. She wasn’t even trying to seem bigger. Her long tail wasn’t puffed and her eyes shone with empathy, not delusory or fear.

"I'm not alone. I have Silver."

"He obviously doesn't know anything about plants, or he would've gathered all these already." The cat gestured towards small clumps of yellow flowers a few tail lengths away, sheltering in the shade. They were the same flowers that now lay on the forest floor after had Blaze defensively shook them off earlier. Blaze liked the young she cat. She didn't try to hide anything from her. Blaze had come into the arena planning to have only Hazy as an ally, and didn't think she was going to be able to trust others. But now, she had Silver. She was a different cat then when she first stepped her paw out of Sootclan, the place she had lived her whole life.  _ Well, all that I can remember. _

"Well, if we're going to be allies, I need to know your name. I'm Blaze, if you already didn't know, and I'm from Sootclan." Said Blaze.  _ I hope I made the right choice. _

"I'm Badger, and I'm from Dustclan. We do medicine there. Now let's get to work on those wounds on your back." 

 

Blaze gathered the patch of plants Badger had called goldenrod. Badger pulled out some small white flowers from her shoulder bag, and tossed them at Blaze. 

"Chew up this yarrow for me while I gather some moss and cobwebs. It'll help ease your infection." Instructed Badger with surprising authority. Blaze did as she asked, thinking how easy it could be for Badger to kill her.  _ This could be poison for all  I know. _ But Badger seemed so genuine in her actions, and with Silver away, Blaze was an easy target for any tribute. So she chewed, thinking little Badger could be her best hope. Badger soon returned with soaking wet moss between her jaws. She drizzled the wound with water from the moss, and then crushed the chewed yarrow and goldenrod into a poultice, applying it in gentle circles. Once the wound was clean, Badger wrapped it in cobwebs and Blaze felt the sharp pain as the woven string touched her clean wound. 

"Are you sure this will work, Badger?" Asked Blaze hesitantly, the sharp pain slowly dying down into a numbing burn. Badger smiled and nodded, humming as she sorted the extra herbs for tomorrow. “That’s a nice melody.” Blaze noted, reminded of the songs her mother used to sing her when she couldn’t sleep.

"Yeah. We used to hum this tune when the work for the day was done.” Badger continued to hum the tune, and hearing her cheerful little song lifted Blaze’s spirits a bit. “Sometimes, we would sing songs to the birds, and they would sing back. I can’t sing though, so I always hummed.” Badger explained, a little smile peeking onto her face. She looked at Blaze, “Can you sing?” Blaze looked at Badger. She had never sang in front of anyone before. Blaze felt a sudden feeling of trust towards Badger as she thought of a song, the song she always sang to Hazy when he couldn’t sleep.

 

_ "Wander, wander, down to the deep _

_ Let us run _

_ Off to sleep _

_ The stars have come,  dear, from _

_ Under the sweet, blue moon _

_ Though the weather teems _

_ With mist and rain _

_ And softer dreams _

_ Do run away _

_ Here it's safe _

_ And here it's warm _

_ The tulips guard you _

_ From every harm _

_ Wander, wander, down to the deep _

_ Close your eyes _

_ Off to sleep _

_ The stars have come, dear, from _

_ Under the sweet,  blue moon" _

 

Blaze almost cried, as she remembered Hazy always asking her to sing again and again. She wanted him to be next to her right now, telling her to sing it again. Suddenly a chorus of mockingjays sang the song, perfect in sound and tone. Badger watched Blaze, 

“You sang that song to him, didn’t you?” Blaze felt herself choke as a tear threatened to fall down her face, “You can cry, Blaze, I don’t mind. You need more than a day or two to get over your brother. You may  _ never   _ get over it. I don’t care if you need to cry.” Blaze nodded, but then turned to Badger,

“Do you have anything to make me sleep?” Badger nodded, pulling a clump of seeds out from behind her,

"Eat these poppy seeds, they'll help with sleeping. You should rest up, so your wounds will heal better." Blaze nodded, placing three seeds in her mouth. They were bitter and acidic, but she choked them down nonetheless. Soon drowsiness spread over her, and sleep was calling.


	18. Forgiveness

_ We fight _

_ to forget them _

_ the empty eyed dead _

_ that haunt us _

_ that tried _

_ and failed _

_ but we will not forget _

_ and we will not _

_ let them _

_ win _

 

Blaze was jolted awake in the middle of the night by a blood-curdling scream. Badger fell to the ground before her, wine colored blood seeping from under her chest fur and draining from her mouth. Something had sliced through her throat and out her chest, "Badger!" Blaze shrieked, gripping the small cat in her paws. She thought she heard another gasp in the distance. _ Who could have hurt Badger, a tiny, defenseless kit?   _ She lifted her head to see Silver stood behind the tree, eyes wide and claws dripping with blood,

"Blaze?! I thought you were dead. I thought she killed you!" Silver choked, shaking.Blaze felt warm tears streak down her face,

"Silver, Badger did nothing but help me! She wanted to be our ally!" Badger's blood was spilling from her like an endless river. Silver’s eyes flickered to her, then to Badger. He turned and ran away, but Blaze didn't care. Silver didn't matter right now. She held Badger's broken body against her own. Her wounds were fatal, and Blaze didn't allow herself any hope for this poor little cat. No, Blaze would only be let down if she hoped. 

"Blaze... You have to win." Badger pleaded softly.

"I will. For the both of us now." Promised Blaze. A small tear trailed down her cheek, and she wiped it away before it landed on Badger.

"Don't leave." Mumbled Badger, barely audible. 

"I won't. I'm right here for you." 

“Blaze, will you sing me a song?” Coughed Badger almost silently, pleading eyes trained on Blaze. How could she say no? "The one you sang before..." Badger's head drooped, eyes blinking. Blaze lay Badger down against a tree. She coughed once, then swallowed hard and began to sing.  _ "Wander, wander, down to the deep,"  _ Began Blaze. She sang through the lullaby twice, voice scratchy from crying. Badger's expression changed from scared to almost peaceful as she listened to the forest's music.  _ "...Under the sweet, blue moon."  _ Blaze finished. The sweet melody faded out into silence. The silence lingered for not a moment longer before Blaze heard the loud boom of a cannon firing. Blaze gently lifted Badger's body and brought it out into the sunshine. She heard the sound of a hover tram, coming for the body, knowing it wouldn’t pick up the body if a tribute was nearby. Blaze placed Badger in the flowers, running some through her fur. She hoped that the cameras were watching her now.  _ This isn’t Silver’s fault. Or the Bloodclaw’s. It’s Fourtree’s fault Badger is dead.  _

 

Blaze carefully picked and arranged dozens of beautiful flowers, covering and surrounding Badger’s dead body. She closed Badger’s eyes, and if Blaze didn't know that she was dead, she would think Badger was sleeping from her tranquil expression. 

"She's good and safe now, up in the stars." Whispered Blaze, grabbing both her and Badger's packs. "Bye, Badger." She walked away without looking back. Her heart directed her paws to follow Silver's beaten down path, although her brain didn’t quite agree with what she was doing. But she didn’t have anywhere else to go. 

His tracks abruptly ended upon reaching the river, and Blaze looked around to see where Silver could've gone.The low hum of the hover tram dulled the noise of the forest, so it was only after many paces around the river that Blaze heard the sniffles coming from behind the rocks. 

"Silver?" Blaze peered around the rock pile next to the riverbed, eyes widening. Silver, huddled in a tight little ball, was sobbing uncontrollably. His puffy pink eyes looked up at Blaze,

"G-Go away! I'm a monster. I-I just... I just k-killed an innocent k-kit..." Silver sniffled. Blaze sat down next to him, unable to cry.  _ Am I that emotionally drained right now?  _

"Silver... You aren't making me forgive you any easier." The words fell out of her mouth before Blaze realized how rude she sounded,

"I mean, she's in a better place now," Blaze shook her head, expression softening,"I'm not the best at this whole comforting thing. I know you were just trying to protect me."  Silver stared at her, his eyes red from all his crying,

"Yeah, nice job Blaze."  Blaze wanted to make a haughty remark about  _ his  _ current state, but she held herself back,

"Silver, you do realize that we would have had to kill her to win, right? At least she died with us, and not somewhere where she was alone." Silver nodded, the gentle flow from his eyes coming to an end. He nodded, then softly rose to his feet,

"We should move our campsite. We can't stay any longer." Blaze walked beside him, neither of them speaking for the entire walk back, or while they packed. Night drifted down upon them before they could move out, and with it, the fallen tributes. Badger's innocent eyes stared down at Blaze as her face was projected onto the sky with the two other dead tributes. Just a weary look from Silver decided it was best if they moved at first light.


	19. A Tempest of Hatred

_ I ask but one _

_ lingering question _

_ can love _

_ brave a heart _

_ so changed on the surface _

_ yet under the paint _

_ still cracked? _

 

**"Hello tributes, brutes, and warriors alike."** Spoke a shrill voice over the speakers at the crack of dawn, just a few hours after they’d fallen asleep,  **"Good morning to you all. We have just a quick notice: a new rule has been made. If pair of cats who have been allies for at least two days both survive, they will both be victors, however, the winning group must win within the confines of two days... starting... NOW! Good luck!"** Blaze blinked her eyes open, awoken by the announcement, seeing Silver already staring at her with bright, hopeful eyes,

"Blaze, do you think we could…?" Blaze could tell he was being careful with his words, trying to earn back her trust. She nodded hesitantly, 

"Why not? We wanted to move anyway, and I think I know where everyone is going." Silver lept to his paws, bag on his back, ready to go. As they walked, Blaze questioned the sudden rule change. Perhaps the viewers in Fourtrees thought it too tragic for one of them to survive without the other. Or maybe, somewhere else in the arena, some juicy drama existed, the kind Fourtrees loved.

 

The Bloodclaws had made their camp at the cornucopia. The journey was long and winding, and both cats had not fully realised how far they had gone from the starting point. They choked down as many of the fish Silver had caught earlier as they could to prepare themselves for the lengthy day ahead. Blaze felt a sickening twang in her heart. They would have to fight with the Bloodclaws, and she knew they would be searching for her. She was dangerous.

 

The center of the arena was different than before. A pile of supplies filled and surrounded the great horn, sparkling in the fake sunlight. A few cats Blaze didn't recognize, along with Drip, the other tribute from Rainclan, guarded the stash. Tempest was nowhere to be seen. Blaze felt Silver's muscles twitch. She knew that he was worried about what might happen to his clanmate. Blaze slunk back into the trees, orienting herself so she was behind the cornucopia, Silver lagging behind. 

She took a deep breath and padded out onto the grass, but before she could take another step, something caught her eye. A tom in the woods, waving his tail and pointing at the ground. Calmly, Blaze looked to the grass around her paw to see a blinking light. A little silver disk sat beneath her paws, and Blaze quickly recognized it. _ One of the starting pads!   _ The Tom cat motioned for her to stay standing on the metal, dragging his paw across his neck like he was slitting his throat.  Blaze felt a shiver slip down her spine as she realised what he was trying to say. If she stepped off the pad, she would die. Fourtrees surrounded the pads with mines so no cat could get a head start at the beginning of the game, and it appeared the Bloodclaws rewired them somehow.

Looking both ways, the tom slipped out of the shade and stood a little ways away. His eyes were fearful as he nodded to himself and shifted close to Blaze. He took a deep breath before shoving her paw off the pad and placing his own down. The pad clicked menacingly, and she saw the dark tom let out his breath. Blaze fled to the edge of the forest instinctively, worried that the whole arena might explode, or worse, the Bloodclaws might catch her. She watched the chaos from behind the cover of the trees.

"Hey!" Shouted Drip as she rounded the corner of the cornucopia, "Oh, you're a dead cat now!" Drip unsheathed her claws, a sickly smile on her face as she struck the motionless tom in the side, knocking him off the pad without thinking of herself.

"Run!" He shouted, causing Blaze to turn around. The sickening crash of the pad exploding set a ringing to her ears. As the burst of explosions ended, cannons were set off, one after the other.  _ One, two, three, four, five. _ Blaze counted in her head, holding on to any vivid thought she could. Everything was hurting.

 

Silver grabbed her body in his teeth and dragged her into the woods, "Blaze..." He whispered, "Stay here. I'll scout out." With all her strength Blaze nodded, clawing for the quiet release of sleep to aid her aching body into rest. But sleep didn't come. The ringing in the ear that was facing the blast grew, and a sense of nausea blanketed Blaze. Her head was spinning, and she counted the moments as they crawled by. A solemn Silver approached Blaze,

"They're gone. All gone. There were eight tributes before the explosion. Did you count how many cannons fired?" Silver's eyes darkened, like he already knew the answer. Blaze took a deep breath.

"Five. Five cats dead," She sighed, still covering her ear as a reflex. "Why did he save me? I didn't even know his name..."

"His name was Henfeathers. I remember his interview. He just stared coldly at the camera the whole time, refusing to answer any of the questions. I'm not sure what's wrong with him." Recalled Silver. Blaze dizzily sat up in realization,

"Do you think... he was one of th-the," Blaze's voice dropped to a faint whisper, " _ rebels? _ " Silver just looked confused, 

"That's the least of our problems now. Anyways, if we counted correctly, that leaves three tributes. When you count us out, only one other tribute remains." Silver pointed out. 

"With our luck, I bet it's Tempest. Did you see her, before or after the explosion?” Blaze already knew the answer deep in her gut,

“No.” Silver confirmed, with a dismal expression.

“She’s probably looking for us right now. We should do the same.” Suggested Blaze.

“Can you even stand?” Blaze got her feet.  _ Physically, I’m alright. My back still hurts, and I’m a bit bruised all over. My main concern is my loss of hearing in my left ear. It makes me feel so vulnerable. _

“I’m fine. Let’s go.” Said Blaze curtly. Silver didn’t move, instead he pawed through his bag, then picked up something with his teeth and strung it around Blaze’s neck.  _ The locket. _

“Take this. I’d hate to die and for this to be lost forever.”

“You aren’t going to-”

“Just do it, okay? For me?’ Begged Silver. Blaze couldn’t argue with his terrifying seriousness, and with that, the two of them retreated from their hiding place in the woods. 

When they emerged from the woods into the clearing, they were greeted with an eerie silence. Blaze dodged the shallow pit in the ground where the explosion happened just moments ago. Silver’s nose crinkled at the remains of cat’s bodies, some that he once knew. Blaze leaned against the golden horn, sniffing for any possible threats. Her ears pricked as she heard a low rumbling that grew louder by the moment. She squinted, and made out the shapes of forest animals: deer, foxes, rabbits. The stampede charged at Silver, and Blaze instinctively jumped in front of him, shielding his body, but the terrified animals just ran past the cornucopia.  _ Back at home, this often happened when an avalanche of rocks was falling down the mountain. The animals could sense the rumbling of the earth before it happened, and that was how we knew to take shelter. Why do I have the feeling that it’s something worse?  _

 

Trailing behind in the dusty, trampled, earth was Tempest. Blaze unsheathed her claws in fear, not because Tempest was barrelling towards them, but because she was not chasing the forest animals. Tempest’s frightened expression mirrored those of the animals in front of her. No, the thing that was stalking them was much, much, worse. 

 

Blaze smelled it before she saw it. The disgusting, rancid smell of rotten flesh and carrion stained the air. Silver and Blaze twisted tails, gripping each other so hard that Blaze’s flesh turned white. Her head pounded, and Blaze longed to just close her eyes. But no chance came. Huge mutated cats prowled out of the forest, snarling, spittle dripping from their unhinged jaws. Blaze leaped onto the slippery golden horn, clawing her way on top of it.

“C’mon!” Gasped Blaze. Silver launched himself at the horn, but miscalculated the jump and slid off the hot metal. Tempest was within a paw grab of Silver’s leg,

“Grab my tail!” Shrieked Blaze. She cringed as Silver pulled on her tail, scrambling to the rim of the horn. Tempest had fury in her eyes as she too began to claw her way up. The cats circled the horn, closing in on the three tributes. Something was odd about the mutts… they were all different. Blaze didn’t understand the point of making the mutts have different pelts and sizes. As Blaze got a closer look, she noticed they all had collars as well. A smiling Tempest threw herself onto the horn,

“Get it? They’re messing with us. They’re the dead ones.” Tempest cackled and pointed her tail at the mutts, “And soon, you’ll be joining them.” 


	20. When I Forget

_ Fallen _

_ so far _

_ yet free from all _

_ who challenge her _

_ she is broken _

_ ripped of her pride _

_ she will _

_ shatter _

_ she will fight _

 

Blaze felt sick as she realised what Tempest meant.  _ The mutts… They’re the dead tributes. The mutts are modeled after the dead tributes.  _ Blaze peered at the howling mutts below the horn, _ They say their clan on the collars. Which one’s-  _

“Hazy!” Screamed Blaze. His eyes, his perfect, innocent, blue eyes, were staring at her from the body of a monster. His claws made a sickening screech as they raked the cornucopia, trying to reach them. Blaze couldn’t look away.

“Funny, isn’t it? But let’s not waste time. Now I finally have the  _ cat-on-fire  _ all to myself. I don’t have anyone to ruin this chance for me anymore.” Tempest sneered. She cornered Silver and Blaze at the horn’s rim, tail swishing. Silver was quiet and still as a statue, slightly behind Blaze but so close that she could feel his breath on her back. Tempest’s tail had a three pronged claw attached to the end, and she used to grab Blaze by the scruff of her neck. 

 

Blaze felt a pang of realization as Tempest held her over the edge of the cornucopia. She was going to die, no matter what Silver did. It was over. She was going to fall into the pack of mutts and meet a slow, painful death. There was no sense in fighting it. Struggling would only loosen Tempest’s grip on her neck, bringing her closer to her inevitable doom.

"Okay, Silver. I'll make you a deal. You become part of  _ my   _ group and you live." Tempest offered. Silver was quiet, but Blaze feel his heartbeat quickening. _ They haven’t been together for more than two days. It’s not going to work. She’s going to kill him..  _ Tempest tightened her grip on Blaze's mouth. If she didn't die from the bodies below, she was sure to suffocate. Maybe Tempest would be more original and rip her jaw off.

"Okay, I'll make a pact with you." Silver avowed, looking very unsure and afraid. Tempest flashed a toothy grin, contempt with his answer.

"In order to prove you are really making a pact, I want you to shove Blaze off of the cornucopia. When she falls, our pact is complete." Suddenly Silver realised what this meant. His eyes flickered for a moment to Blaze, and without thinking, she nodded her head, silently telling Silver that he didn't have to be the hero this time. 

 

Tempest slowly lowered her grip on Blaze. Silver shuffled over to her and gave her a small shove, not enough to hurt her, but enough to make her lose her balance. Blaze stumbled and fell, claws screeching agonizingly against the side of the metal horn before she fell to the ground.The mutts came running over to her, but Blaze didn’t scream. She noticed how close Tempest was to the edge, and without a word, she got an idea.

She had to get herself mad. Mad enough to control her flames, and from there, who knows.Tempest laughed a deep menacing laugh, 

“See, Silver, wasn’t that easy?” Silver didn’t reply, he just looked down at his paws. In that moment, time seemed to pause.

Tempest could feel Silver’s hatred towards her, and felt her heart sink. Silver could never love her. Not after this, not after Blaze, whom he loved so much. There would never be room for her in his heart. She had ruined everything. She or Blaze, it didn’t matter who was to blame anymore. In that moment, nothing mattered. Not to Tempest.


	21. Fall into Memories

_ End it all _

_ to deafen their call _

_ but don’t regret, _

_ though they will forget _

_ your story will still _

_ be painted by the _

_ scattered stars _

_ forming your scars _

 

One of the mutts lunged at Blaze, mouth agape and frothing with spittle. Blaze barely dodged it, pressing herself up against the cornucopia. The pack surrounded her, closing in. With her back to the horn, she couldn't escape by climbing it. She knew her moments were numbered. She had to make this fast. Filling with rage towards Tempest alone, Blaze felt her flames prickling under her skin. Thinking of Hazy, who Tempest had thrown aside as if he had no worth, and Silver, who she had just forced to push his old teammate to her death, Blaze exploded into a flaming inferno. 

The mutts jumped back, alarmed by the flames completely submerging Blaze and reaching out a tail length on all sides. Blaze used this moment to her advantage and turning to face the cornucopia.

Tempest looked back, fear in her eyes as Blaze began to climb. Judging from Tempest's reaction, Blaze thought she must look terrifying. Without a word, she formed some of her fire into a giant claw like Tempest had, and made to grab her. In light of Tempest's fear, her tail curled around her as Blaze began to corner her at the edge of the cornucopia. The fire slowly closed in on her, and Tempest coughed out her few last words _ , _

"You are a fool Blaze." Tempest sputtered, "They are never going to let you stay together. Now you must kill him. Now they will see how strong you really are." Blaze, terrified of the truth, enveloped Tempest in her flames, burning her alive. Tempest fell backwards off of the metal horn, without a scream or even a single cry. The mutts closed in on her, and Blaze turned away.

 

Gradually, Blaze’s flames burnt out, and the cannon went off one last time. But nothing acknowledged  Blaze and Silver’s win.The loudspeaker crackled to life once more, 

" **Final tributes, a revision has been made to the rule that says all current groups can win together. It has been, erm, revoked. My apologies for the inconvenience. Everything has been taken care of. Carry on!** " 

 

Blaze stared at Silver, terror in her eyes. One of them had to kill the other. Fourtrees needed a victor. Silver just looked calm, a worried smile even seemed to curl onto his face, 

"Blaze, what if there was no victor. What if we jump off into the mutts, and let them kill us both." Blaze smiled weakly, and shakily stepped over to Silver, wrapping her tail around his. He held her tight, "You hear that?!" He shouted to the sky, "You won’t have a victor!" Blaze looked at Silver. He looked so sure of himself. "Are you ready?" He asked gently, probably noticing the fear in her eyes.

"If I answered that, we'd be here all day." Blaze replied, voice scratchy. Silver nodded grimly and gave her tail a squeeze,

"Let's go."

 

* * *

 

Snowstar watched the two tributes fall off the cornucopia, into the swarm of mutts. Neither cat screamed, similar to Tempest, but this was bad. He turned to the Sharpteeth in his office. 

"You!" He said, pointing to the group, "Get them to turn it off and find Quicksilver and Blazeash before they die. Also, bring me Tempest’s __ body. I'm sure  _ it   _ could be of use." The officers nodded, and ran off to follow his orders. By now, only Snowstar was watching the screen, the two tributes shaking as their kin began to pick off their flesh. The screen flickered, and suddenly a voice rang in Snowstar’s ear.

“Sir. The cameras have been intercepted. The past moments of footage aren’t real. I’m not sure what’s going on-” Snowstar tore out his earpiece in blind fury. 

“Send out the Strongteeth!” He barked to nocat in particular, “The rebels- they’re here!”

 

* * *

 

Blaze cringed and fell backwards from the edge of the cornucopia, falling hard onto the slick metal. The upper wall of the arena exploded, sending glass and shrapnel falling from above. A hovercraft descended from the sky as the false sun faded to black. Light streamed in from the hole in the arena, and Blaze thought she saw a glimpse of the real sun. She lay there, covering her damaged ear. A large metal claw scooped up Blaze, and she did nothing to stop it.  _ Am I dead? I must be. They’re taking my body now.   _ She watched the scene below get smaller, and smaller as the arm retracted into the hovercraft. Armed Strongteeth rushed about below, shooting at the sky.  _ Why are they shooting at me?   _ The arena below was blocked from her vision as the metal doors of the hovercraft shut behind her.

 

Blaze woke to a sterile white room. The first thing she noticed was the tube connected her arm. She ripped it out and searched for weapon, survival instincts kicking into her sluggish body. Blinking, Blaze spotting a syringe on the table next to her bed. Blaze grabbed in her teeth, noticing her CLARUS tracker was missing, feeling bare without the device she’d had since she was a kit. She didn’t feel safe wherever she was, but now, at least she had something to defend herself with.  _ Where am I? Where is Silver?   _ Blaze stood shakily to her paws. A door stood in the way of Blaze and whatever was out there. She sighed and pressed her paw to the scanner, knowing what was to come.

**“Access denied.”** Blaze stepped back, then rammed against the door in an attempt to break it down. It was a stupid idea, and Blaze collapsed to the floor. She tried to summon flames, in one last attempt to somehow break free. Only sparks came, taking the last of her energy. She passed out on the cool metal floor. 

 

“Morning.” Spoke a familiar voice as Blaze opened her eyes. Hayfur sat next to her bed, which was now equipped with a belt to keep her down. 

“What are you doing here? With them?” Blaze yowled, squirming under her bindings.

“Just listen, alright?” Blaze glared at Hayfur, but said nothing.

“We couldn’t inform you of our plans earlier, with Fourtree’s surveillance on you all the time. Better for you to be clueless on the matter.” Hayfur began.

“Where’s Silver?”

Hayfur ignored her question, continuing on, “You’ve been our mission this whole time. Getting you out alive was our top priority. This is the revolution. And you, you’re our Phoenix. You’re inside a rebel hovercraft, and we’re on our way to Torchclan right now.”

“Torchclan? They were demolished years ago-”

“Nope. I’ll explain that later.”

“Where’s Silver?”

“Fourtrees took him. We couldn’t rescue him in time, we had to get you out-”

“What?!”

“I’m sorry-” 

Blaze screamed, pushing against her bonds, staring Hayfur down, her sanity unravelling, 

“I hate you! You disgusting, fox brained, snaggle toothed-” A syringe entered her leg. Everything faded to black. 


	22. When We Wake

_ We are forever _

_ against all weather _

_ in rain _

_ in light _

_ even in snow _

_ and in their hearts _

_ we will survive _

_ and in their ashes _

_ we will relight _

_ we are forever _

 

Snowstar paced back and forth outside the hospital. The sound of muffled mews, rolling carts, and the buzzing of new electronics was all he could hear through the white walls. The hospital door swung open, and a young nurse approached Snowstar, her pale eyes wary. 

"Her final surgery has been complete. She's still under the effects of pain medication, however, but she's fit to see you." Spoke the nurse, not making eye contact. There was no question about who she was speaking of. They both knew that only one patient in Fourtree's Hospital was important to an authority figure such as Snowstar. 

"Bring her to me." Demanded Snowstar to the nurse. All the doctors in Fourtrees were of Dustclan descent, as it was the medicine district,  and it showed in the nurse’s short, plain brown fur. She was of lesser value than him. The nurse bowed her head timidly and shuffled away. The moment the nurse slipped inside the building, however, Snowstar could hear her pace quicken to a run. _She’s afraid of me.  Very well, fear motivates her to follow orders. Better for me._ A few silent moments passed, and Snowstar retired to a bench, chuckling. _My paws are tired. I’m getting old._ Lost in thought, Snowstar barely heard the whoosh of the sliding glass door open. A hardly recognizable she-cat stumbled out of the hospital, accompanied by a different nurse from before. Every time the nurse tried to help her along, the she-cat pushed him aside and tried to walk on her own. Snowstar approached the pair, brushing the nurse aside.

“Get back to work. We no longer have use for you. Go on!” Dismissed Snowstar. The nurse left, leaving the two finally alone.The patient sheathed and unsheathed her new metal claws, stretching her shiny prosthetic leg, ignoring the looming silence. After many long moments, the navy she-cat spoke,

“Did I really just die? And-”

“Yes, Tempest. You weren't alive when we found you. But your body was still mostly intact. The muttation’s attention span was programmed to be short, you see, and they left once you were dead. They didn’t destroy too many vital organs, none that couldn’t be replaced. I’m sure your doctor informed you of our new serum, no?” Snowstar filled in as he helped Tempest over to the bench, much to her disgust. Tempest shook her head.

“Really? Well, our doctors in Dustclan have designed a new serum that reanimates dead bodies. It must be used sparingly, for one of the ingredients is crushed Duststone powder. But you’re just that important. Speaking of which, I have a special job for you. It has to do with another tribute who is staying at this very same hospital. His name is Quicksilver.” Informed Snowstar. Tempest tilted her head, but replied before Snowstar could explain.

“Count me in.”

 

* * *

 

Blaze felt the hum of movement around her and the mumble of voices before she remembered. At first, it was as if she was sitting alone on a cloudy day, but as her dark, vivid memories returned to her, she felt the warmth of repressed tears flow. Hazy, Badger, Snazz, and probably Silver too... But why was she still alive?  She pawed the cool metal locket around her neck, tracing the surface with her toe.

"Blaze, are you awake?" It was Bee's comforting voice that she heard now, "Blaze, if you can hear me, I don't blame you for what happened to Hazy. It wasn't your fault. But Rose doesn't know yet, they say she's too unstable for them to be sure of what her reaction will be. But we all escaped." Blaze felt Bee's comforting paw pressing against her head, "You’re alright now. You're safe."

“Escaped?” Blaze opened her heavy eyes, staring into her mother’s comforting ones.

“After the games… Fourtrees sent Sun Capsules. They destroyed everything.”

“Right here in Sootclan?”

“There is no Sootclan anymore, Blaze. We’re safe here in Torchclan.”

“No Sootclan?”

“It’s all gone, sweetie. It’s all gone.”


	23. End of Book One

 

_ coal is coal _

_ cat is cat _

_ both may stay _

_ and hidden lay _

_ yet through scratching claws _

_ they both retire _

_ and both may cause _

_ the birth of fire _

 

 

_ sometimes lies _

_ best the truth _

_ take a sip _

_ of the blood red goblet _

_ forget the secrets _

_ that gnaw at your heart _

 

 

_ can you hear my roar _

_ the crackle of the hearth _

_ a fire still starts _

_ from the smallest spark _

 

 

_ you can trick me _

_ tear my lungs out _

_ leave me breathless _

_ but I will breath still _

_ with a wind from the willows _

_ and a cool night’s chill _

 

 

_ our memories are _

_ coughed up like _

_ stale blood _

_ do you want to remember? _

_ do you want to forget? _

 

 

_ trees of four _

_ symbol of peace _

_ four trees, four cats _

_ me? _

_ I’m the missing piece _

 

 

_ a flame shines _

_ bright _

_ when accompanied by _

_ night _

 

 

_ trust; a fickle thing _

_ do you ever know _

_ enough to let them _

_ entrance your heart _

_ or are you just hoping _

_ you won't get stabbed _

_ again _

 

 

_ Tell them that they’re wrong _

_ Show the blind fools that _

_ to live is not to survive; _

_ it is to love _

 

 

_ They don’t hear words _

_ when you speak _

_ they hear _

_ only  _

_ what they want to hear _

 

 

_ Fear is hidden _

_ in the eyes of our enemies _

_ find it _

_ hide it again _

_ much like a secret _

_ but remind yourself that _

_ yes _

_ we are the all same _

 

 

_ Smile _

_ let your voice be heard _

_ I am not broken; _

_ heart frozen; _

_ no _

_ you are the one unchosen _

_ let it be known _

 

 

_ Promises _

_ are little lies _

_ we make to help us forget _

_ we can’t live forever _

 

 

_ Rage _

_ is the fire that burns through our blood _

_ it haunts us in the dark _

_ we will not stand down _

_ if controlled _

_ it will not stain us _

_ revenge will _

 

 

_ To love again _

_ is to brave death _

_ to fall again _

_ To let yourself be lost _

_ in another’s eyes _

_ again _

_ but to still remember _

_ is to challenge _

_ who we are _

 

_ We fight _

_ to forget them _

_ the empty eyed dead _

_ that haunt us _

_ that tried _

_ and failed _

_ but we will not forget _

_ and we will not _

_ let them _

_ win _

 

_ I ask but one  _

_ lingering question: _

_ can love _

_ brave a heart _

_ so changed on the surface _

_ yet under the paint _

_ still cracked? _

 

_ Fallen _

_ so far _

_ yet free from all _

_ who challenge her _

_ she is broken _

_ ripped of her pride _

_ she will _

_ shatter _

_ she will fight _

 

_ End it all _

_ to deafen their call _

_ but don’t regret, _

_ though they will forget _

_ your story will still _

_ be painted by the _

_ scattered stars _

_ forming your scars _

 

_ We are forever _

_ against all weather _

_ in rain _

_ in sun _

_ even in snow _

_ and in their hearts _

_ we will survive _

_ and in their ashes _

_ we will relight _

_ we are forever _


	24. While She Runs

_ As the crimson sky _

_ blankets the earth _

_ it starts to crack _

_ a paradox _

_ or a cat _

_ has _

_ come _

_ crashing _

_ down _

 

There was no doubt about it. Quicksilver knew nothing of Torchclan, or where Blazeash was. He was in darkness on the whole operation. Snowstar looked over Silver’s thin, ragged body. He looked like a corpse, and smelled a lot like one too. For a moment, Snowstar had thought Silver was dead, until his shimmering eyes squinted open and focused on Snow,

“You will… never… win against them.” Silver rasped, “You are an old… lonely… fool.” Snowstar was puzzled. For a cat who knew nothing of their plan, Silver trusted Blaze with all of his heart.  _ His heart!  _ A devious smile slid onto Snow’s face, 

“You really love her, don’t you?” The sudden change of topic made Quicksilver pause, 

“Yes, I think I do. Why?” A smile inched its way to Snowstar’s eyes, causing them to squint, 

“Perhaps, for the good of our civilization, you must have a change of heart.” Silver’s eyes widened, “You… wouldn’t…” Snow turned to the patient doctors,

“Prepare the tool.” He ordered, walking away, “There is nothing I wouldn’t do, Silver. You will learn that… in time.”

 

* * *

 

It had required many of Hayfur’s lengthy explanations to allow Blaze’s brain to accept her surroundings. Torchclan was darker than Sootclan, with many less torches, surprisingly. Hayfur had said this was because of  the heat sensors that Fourtrees had. Torchclan lived under Iceclan’s mountain, a dead volcano. Most cats of Torchclan were a strange ginger color, not gray like other mountain cats. Since they lived underground without sun, they kept time with little beams of light.  They were always on time, and kind, and Blaze hated them for it.  _ Why, in a time such as this, would they be so cheerful?  _ She thought, _ They’re like the cats of Fourtrees.. _

Blaze had taken refuge in a small storage cubby hollowed out in the wall, and had been here for half the day, curled up in a tiny ball. She pressed herself up against the wall as she heard pawsteps coming her way,

"Hello!" A cheery, accented voice Blaze was now all too familiar with interrupted her thoughts, "I see you've found our supply cabinet!" Goldenstar, leader of Torchclan, stood before her. Blaze wondered why Goldenstar didn’t have better things to do in these times, why one of her assistants couldn’t be helping her. Goldenstar had streaks of grey mixed in to her short, straight yellow-gold fur. Like her clanmates, she adopted a friendly, cheerful mask. Her features were beautiful, untouched by age.

Blaze turned to Goldenstar and nodded, to lazy to use her words on such a simple cat as Goldenstar, "Oh! Blaze, I need to bring you down to meet the other victors, from past games. Many escaped their clans long ago for to help our cause. They’re so eager to meet you!”  _ So, this rebellion has been going on longer than I thought... _  Blaze knew it was pointless to resist her. She’d tried. So she stood to her paws and let Goldenstar take her away.

 

Goldenstar led Blaze into a large, open, meeting room of sorts, empty besides she-cats waiting at a table in the corner. They turned to Goldenstar, then to Blaze, their eyes softening when they saw her, 

“You must be Blaze.” One of them said. She was shorter than the other one with golden-brown fur and knowing yellow eyes, “I’m Boltstrike,  and this is my mate, Tinkertail.” Sitting next to her was who Blaze assumed to be Tinkertail. Tinkertail cast her grey eyes to her paws, and hesitated before speaking,

“It-It truly is a pleasure to meet you, Blaze. We’re from Iceclan, and we came here…” Tinkertail lifted her gaze, eyes squinted in concentration. 

“When we first became mates. We met because we’re both victors, two years apart, and something between us just clicked.” Boltstrike’s eyes sparkled, but she saw Blaze’s uninterested expression and continued with her story, “Anyways, a few suncycles ago, things started to get bad in our clan, and word spread about the rebellion. We escaped by faking our deaths. Fourtrees ate up the story, and we slipped away down the mountain. The hike took many days-"

"I thought we weren't going to- I thought we were dead." Tinkertail whispered. Her eyes weren't focused on her surroundings, and Blaze could tell the story brought up bad memories for her. 

"It was hard. Neither of us knew much about hunting. Our clan doesn't need to." Blaze was provoked by this idea, and spoke for the first time all day,

"No hunting? How do you eat? What do you do all day?" She asked, and Boltstrike smiled,

"Cats in Iceclan work hard for Fourtrees, inventing machines to make their lives easier. But one of our machines we kept for ourselves. It works much like plants do, creating glucose out of sunlight. Photosynthesis. The first time I ate something besides glucose tablets was when I was entered in the Warrior Games.” Tinkertail nodded, softly frowning, clearly in the past.

Blaze watched them in confusion. There was something a little… off about the two of them.

Goldenstar cleared her throat, interrupting the odd silence, smiling with her honey-coated smile,

“If you two don’t mind, I really must escort Blaze here to the Torchstone. I’m astonished she’s been able to wait this long for her chance! Thanks for your time, you two.” Boltstrike and Tinkertail both nodded, and waved their tails as Blaze followed Goldenstar into the great tunnels of the Torchstone.


	25. The Hearth

_ Shattered and broken _

_ its power remains _

_ unhurt _

_ unbroken _

_ and breathing sweet flame _

_ the greatest of powers _

_ but alone _

_ gently waiting _

_ for only _

_ one _

 

The winding underground passages leading to the Torchstone reminded Blaze of home, and it was here Blaze had spent most of her days in Torchclan thus far. However, she had not yet had a chance to visit the clan’s most treasured gem. Blaze felt herself getting warmer as they walked down the path, anticipating what was to come. She was no longer accompanied by Goldenstar, instead by two stone faced guards. One spoke upon reaching the end of the tunnel,

“You’re on your own from here on, Miss. We’ll be waiting outside if you need assistance.” One said, “I’m Brookstalk. I’ll be your personal guard from now on. This here is my assistant, Gravel.” Blaze said nothing, facing the shiny metal door before her. It was similar to the other doors around Torchclan, but with nowhere to press her paw for authentication. 

“Hey, how do I do-” Blaze was quickly interrupted by the other guard, Gravel,

“Just say ‘open’. If  you’re in the database, it’ll recognise ya.” Blaze’s legs wobbled beneath her. She knew she was from Torchclan, Hayfur had told her, but a small part of her still wanted to believe she didn’t belong in this strange land. _ This is the moment of truth.   _

“Open.” She said flatly. The door swished open, revealing the room. Blaze turned to face Brookstalk, and he gave her a wink and a small shove before closing the door behind her. 

 

Blaze’s mouth opened slightly as she gazed at her surroundings. The area was large enough to fit many cats, perhaps the whole clan. The walls were of slick metal, presumably fireproof. Little wisps of fire danced about the chamber, bursting into sparks at random. In the center was the Torchstone, much smaller than Blaze had expected. The amber colored crystal was only about as large as her paw, and it faintly pulsed and glowed, lighting up the dim space.

 

Blaze felt drawn to it, like it was the only thing she had ever wanted. Three other cats were already in the room, eyes closed, touching the Torchstone with their noses. She awkwardly sat in between two of them and tried to emulate what they were doing.With a single touch, she felt pulsing beams of energy burst through her. In an instant, Blaze was filled with thousands of memories, from every cat who had ever touched the stone. All of the memories blurred by, until she reached one. Only a second of memory, played in slow motion. The form of a she-cat, with constantly morphing yet astonishingly beautiful features. She was almost too perfect to be real, but somehow, Blaze could tell she was. Her perfect smile transformed into a perfect frown, as a great shadow came lurching towards her. Blaze felt the sharp, agonising pain as the she-cat was struck with claws, and teeth, falling endlessly with an agonizing scream. 

 

Fear awoke Blaze from her dream. She quickly backed away from the stone, before realising there was somecat watching her.

“You had your first Torchdream, huh?” said the cat, his warm golden eyes studying her. Blaze nodded warily, scrutinising the older tom.  His brown-grey fur was neatly groomed, and his smile seemed genuine. Blaze had definitely never met him, yet his features looked familiar somehow. Blaze inched away slightly, ears flat against her head.

“Do I know you?” Blaze questioned.

“I thought you wouldn’t remember me... My name is Kestrel, and I’ve waited a long time to meet you, Blazeash. The last time I saw you was only six moons after your birth.”  He answered, causing Blaze’s eyes to widen in shock, forgetting her status.  _ How does he know my name?  _  She was intrigued by this odd tom, and requested for him to continue.  _ Perhaps he knows about my past.   _ Kestrel quickly continued,

“Let me explain our relation. The she-cat who raised you, Bee, is my sister. As you know, you two aren’t related by blood. However, your true mother-” 

“Biological mother.” Interupted Blaze. Kestrel nodded worriedly, trying to get the right impression.

“Your  _ biological  _ mother’s name is Heartstring. Heartstring was born of royal blood. You see, Heartstring is Snowstar’s daughter-”

“I’m related to Snowstar?” Blaze blurted out in dismay.  _ This can’t be true. He’s lying. _

“Yes. Cats of your bloodline are very powerful. All of the original five leaders have died, except for  Snowstar. And Snowstar had only one kit. Heartstring was half goddess, and therefore half immortal. She deserved a longer life…” Kestrel paused to compose himself, “Anyways, Heartstring was my mate. I am your father. Heartstring died the day you were born into this world. I warned her it was a bad idea to have kits, it would make her replaceable, but she insisted.”

“What do you mean,  _ replaceable _ ? And I have siblings?”

“I understand this is a lot to take in. I come from Sootclan, but left there to join the rebellion when I was young, much like my friends Boltstrike and Tinkertail. My sister, however, stayed in Sootclan. I thought it would be safer for you and your siblings to live there. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened to your mother.” Kestrel gazed off into the distance, and Blaze nudged him, impatient to hear more. “Oh-Sorry. Let me continue. The road to Sootclan was hard. I almost got caught a number of times.You were the only one alive by the time we crossed the border. When we arrived at Bee’s home, I was surprised to see she had just given birth not but a few hours earlier. We thought they were all born dead on arrival, but Hazy was a survivor, even with this defects.”

Blaze cringed at the sound of her brother’s name, and Kestrel quickly changed the subject, 

“Bee was eager to take you in. Said it was a blessing, to make up for the kits she lost. She raised you like her own-”

“You didn’t answer my first question! Why isn’t it safe here? And why didn’t anyone tell me you were my father?” Blaze asked, cutting Kestrel off. Kestrel began to speak, but was interrupted by the cave door opening.

“Miss, I hate to interrupt, but you have places to go. You've spent too long here already. If you're done with your Torchdream, you should hustle along.” Gravel advised, standing in the doorway. Blaze looked from Kestrel to Gravel, obviously torn.

“Go on. You’ve entertained this old cat long enough.” Kestrel said, pretending to have just been making small talk. Brookstalk smiled,

“Ah, Kestrel, always making conversation. Come on, Blaze.” Replied Brookstalk, “You’re needed to meet with your friends and family. I think it is your mother and a family friend.” Blaze grinned as she tucked her Torchdream memory and her recent conversation to the back of her thoughts, excited to see a familiar face. She remembered Bee telling her something, something about home, and Rose, but she had dismissed as a dream. Blaze wondered why she hadn’t been able to see them until today.

“Really? Bee is here?” He gave her a quick nod, before Gravel took the lead, 

“Right this way.” 

 

Blaze didn’t want to think about why Bee was moved here, or what she would do when she found out about Hazy, but she was happy that she had anyone around here who wouldn’t think of her as ‘The Phoenix” and instead as Blaze. She also didn’t want to think about the conversation she would have to have about her being adopted. She knew that it was going to be hard, but a relief, to talk to Bee again for the first time in almost a moon. 


	26. Promises

_ The path is never certain _

_ nor ever does it bend _

_ promises not meant to be _

_ are not _

_ likely _

_ to be forgiven _

 

Blaze and Bee made eye contact before anyone else. By the look in her eyes, Blaze could tell she knew about Hazy, but it was not her mother that worried Blaze. It was the sheepish cat who sat next to her mother that worried her. Rosequartz noticed Blaze walking in and jumped to her paws, a bright smile slapped onto her face, 

“Blaze! Oh, I was so worried about you and Hazy! In the time you were gone, I realised he’s my only friend in this new place. Anyway, It is so good to see you! I miss home, but at least now we’re all together.” Rose gushed, pulling Blaze into a tight bearhug.  _ No one here told Rose about Hazy, did they? _

“Rose we need to talk. Hazy-” Before she could finish, Rose cut her off,

“Oh, by the way Blaze, where is Hazy? You promised his safety, so…”

“Rose-”

“Was he badly hurt and recovering right now!?” 

“ _ Rose _ -”

“Did he forget everything and is in rehabilitation to remember? Or maybe he’s tired and he’s just taking a nap! That’s it! Let’s go see-”

“ROSE!” Blaze shouted, finally getting Rose to register that Blaze was talking to her.

“What?” Rose said, tilting her head. Blaze took a deep breath,

“Rose, Hazy is dead.”

 

Rose laughed, not understanding in the slightest.

"That’s funny Blaze, now where is he?" Rose asked with a concerned, but innocent look. Blaze spoke again, throat closing up and tears beginning to form in her eyes,

"He's dead, Rose." She stated, not looking Rose in the eye. Rose laughed once more, although it was obviously forced.

"Stop lying to me Blaze, you promised, so he must be alive." Rose's voice got increasingly more urgent, "You promised me Blaze, he has to be alive." 

"DON'T YOU GET IT? HE'S DEAD!" Blaze snapped, immediately regretting it. Rose finally understood that Blaze wasn’t joking, and in a moment of pure agony, she fell to the floor. Blaze tried to move closer, to comfort her, to do anything to take back the harsh words.

"You promised me, Blaze! You’re a liar!” Rose snarled, turning away and burying her head in her chest.Tears burned down her cheeks and Blaze moved closer, wrapping her tail around Rose.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I tried to save him. I really did. They held me back, but they're gone now, okay?" Rose continued mumbling the same words over and over, quieter now.

"I told him that he had to fight for you. That he had to live for you. But there was nothing,  _ nothing,  _ I could have done. I’m so, so sorry.” Rose ignored her words and said nothing, shivering as she sobbed. Blaze ran from the room, a deep fear burning in her that she had broken Rose and that the fragile she-cat would never be fixed. She stopped in an empty conference room and lay down, choking out tearless, silent sobs. Time passed excruciatingly slow as Blaze replayed the event over and over in her mind.

“Promises can’t be held forever.” Blaze looked up to see Goldenstar standing above her, lending a paw. Blaze stood up and Goldenstar motioned to the door, “Walk with me.” 

 

The corridors on this side of Torchclan were bleak and quiet. Goldenstar’s cheery attitude from before had evaporated into a cool, stoic leader persona.

“You know Blaze, I see a lot of me in you.” Goldenstar began, Blaze watching her in uncertainty, “I made promise after promise to my people, to my siblings, to my parents, and to my friends. I wanted to think that if I made those promises, than I would be able to keep all of them. I couldn’t. It broke me. I started putting on that happy face, just to see others happy, even if my predictions couldn’t always be perfect. I have lost so much, but now I only have one goal.” She smiled and looked over at Blaze, “To take down Snowstar’s broken throne of lies.” Blaze said nothing in return, but when Goldenstar turned around, Blaze followed her.


	27. On Golden Wings

_ I’ll paint a pretty picture _

_ I promise I can fix her _

 

The meeting room was filled with cats she didn’t recognise. They were all captivated by the large monitor in front of them, eyes reflecting the fire shown on-screen. Goldenstar cleared her throat, and one of them quickly turned the screen off.

“Greetings, both of you.” Said a black she-cat, nodding to Blaze, “I am Ravenstripe, and these are my warriors, Sunflecks, Echo, Blurwind, and Mapleblossom.” Each cat turned their head when their name was called, some more excited than others. Ravenstripe puffed out her chest, continuing, “I am the lead warrior here, and deputy to Goldenstar.” Blaze bobbed her head gently, thinking of how Sootclan had never had a lead warrior.

“Hello.” Blaze replied cooly, “It’s nice to meet you-” Goldenstar cut her off,

“Well now that you’ve introduced yourselves, let's start the meeting, shall we?” Goldenstar instructed. Ravenstripe nodded and motioned to Echo, who used a machine in the front to turn on the screen again. This time, it was the video of Blaze catching fire in the arena. 

“If you can’t tell, Blaze,” informed Ravenstripe,“This is you fighting Tempest in the Warrior Games. Sunflecks?” The ginger tom blushed and looked into Blaze’s eyes, 

“Our revolution needs power like yours to bring Snowstar down. That is why-” Goldenstar cut off Sunflecks in her excitement,

“We want you to be our Phoenix, and light the path to Snowstar’s defeat!”

 

Blaze took a step back in surprise, 

“What? Me? I...I’m not a fighter.” She objected, Goldenstar’s smile became more of a grimace as she spoke again, sounding out her words as if Blaze was a kit,

“Well Blaze, you are the only living relative of Moonstar and Sunstar, and the only one fit to get to Snowstar. You fought well in The Warrior Games, you must have some experience.Your mother… we were hoping she would help us, but she didn’t, and now we only have you. Please, I was hoping the revolution would come to an end before I died, and I am an old cat now.” Blaze looked at her paws. She wasn’t sure she felt safe with the revolutionary cats, but her budding respect for what they stood for was pressuring her.

“I will consider your offer. What would I do as your... ‘Phoenix’?”

 

Goldenstar flicked her tail at Blurwind, “You. Go get the mechanics and bring them back. Tell them to bring all of the Phoenix equipment.” Blurwind ran out of the room, and Goldenstar grinned at Blaze, “I’m so glad you’re considering.Your mother was an absent minded peace keeper, no offense to you Blaze, you're nothing like her. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with the fight.” The door burst open, and in came Tinkertail, Boltstrike, and Blurwind, all holding one case on their backs.

“We brought all of the equipment, Goldenstar.” Boltstrike reported. Goldenstar looked sharply at Tinkertail, who was huddled behind Boltstrike, “Well? We don't have all sunrise. Go on!” Goldenstar ordered. Boltstrike grabbed the case and opened it with her muzzle, pulling out a full body harness with a small bag on the back.

“This is the Phoenix flight pack. It only responds to your voice. Say 'Fly', Blaze." Boltstrike suggested. Blaze did as Boltstrike instructed, causing the pack to open, great golden wings sprouting from it, “This pack will help you fly, and if needed, the wings can catch fire, without damage.” Tinkertail grabbed the next items, small golden things with sharp blades.

“These are your weapons. This a ring spear.” Tinkertail said as she gestured to one of the objects, “The ring goes around your tail, and the end has a rotating three-pronged claw. It also comes with matching claw extensions. These items can catch on fire as well, and they’re personalised just for you.”

Boltstrike heaved out the last two items, a golden chainmail chestpiece and helmet.

“This is protective flame-proof armor, based off of Snazz’s old design plans. She was a brilliant designer, no doubt.” Blaze felt a pang of guilt as she remembered her stylist, Snazz, who had died for this cause. 

 

“I’m… impressed. They’re beautiful.” Blaze admitted. Although Blaze wasn’t much of a warrior, and wasn’t used to fancy gear, the fact that they were of Snazz’s creation was more than enough to excite her.

“I knew you would be. This set is designed for fashion as much as it is functionality, because you’ll be getting a lot of press as the Phoenix.” Boltstrike said, content with Blaze’s response. He turned to face the others, “Anyways, this meeting is adjourned. It’s about to be Lunchtime.” 

The half-dozen or so cats remaining filed out of the room, chatting amongst themselves as they made their way to the Lunchroom. Blaze began to follow them, but only got halfway across the room before Goldenstar stopped her,

“Oh, Blaze.” Goldenstar began as she walked out into the hall, “A certain cat named Curio would like to meet with you for lunch. She is currently staying in the rehabilitation center. I’m sure that Brookstalk can show you the way.” 

_ Curio, my old trainer, is here?  _  Blaze thought. Goldenstar rushed off to lunch before Blaze could ask any questions, leaving Blaze alone in the empty space. She walked out into the hall, unsure of what to do. To her surprise, Brookstalk was already waiting just outside the door, not accompanied by Gravel this time.

“To lunch then, Blazeash?” Brookstalk asked. 

“Um, apparently I have a lunch meeting in the Rehabilitation Center. Could you take me there?” Blaze responded

Brookstalk nodded, 

“It’s this way.”


	28. Choice of Heart

_ Running fast _

_ faster _

_ Down the road _

_ A fork in the _

_ Path _

_ Take a left  _

_ Not what's right _

 

As soon as Blaze was dropped off at Curio’s room, a beautiful siamese she-cat she didn’t recognise came rushing over to the doorway, 

“Oh Blaze, you’re safe! I was so worried that they had hurt you!” The cat gushed in relief, giving Blaze a brief, tight hug. Blaze looked into the white cat’s face, confused. Suddenly something clicked in Blaze’s brain.

“Curio?” Blaze guessed, and they nodded in confirmation.

“Oh, of course you don’t recognise me!They don’t have makeup here!” Curio sighed, “Don’t I look awful!?”

Blaze smiled, shaking her head,  _ Curio is still a Fourtrees cat at heart.  She’ll definitely need adjusting to life here.  _ “You don’t look awful, Curio. I think you look, um…” Blaze tried to think of a word that would please her, “Stunning!”

Curio blushed a bit, then suddenly realised that they were still standing in the doorway.

“Oh, I’m sorry! You must be starving! Come in, come in!” She exclaimed, leading Blaze into what Goldenstar had called ‘The Rehabilitation Center’. “This is just the common room. The personal rooms are down that hallway.” Curio gestured to the left, “And remember, you can visit anytime you like!

Blaze followed Curio, and she was greeted by a colorful, but seemingly unoccupied room embellished with eating mats, comfy couches and tables, light beam clocks, and a few comscreens on the walls displaying the daily schedule. Curio sat on a cushion beside one of the eating mats and resumed eating, motioning for Blaze to join her.

Curio had a full plate of food in front of her, and Blaze’s mouth watered. She was about to ask for her serving, but then Blaze noticed Hayfur asleep in the corner. His back legs were in a chair but his face was pressed into the carpet, a bit of drool leaking out of his open jaws. His mangy fur was even more unkempt than normal, patches of it appearing to have been ripped out. To be blunt, he looked terrible.

“How long as Hayfur been in that… state?” Blaze whispered to Curio. Curio chuckled,

“Ever since they took away his catmint beer. They don’t allow in this place. He’s experiencing serious withdrawal.” Curio disclosed, a woebegone expression replacing her excited expression from before.

“So you wanted to meet up for lunch?” Blaze asked, changing the subject.

“Right, that.They serve better food here, because they’re trying to adapt me to this lifestyle. I thought you might like it. Also, I really missed you.” Curio grinned, “You were the first cat I took from Sootclan that I really thought could win…Oh, and I’m sorry about your brother.”

“It’s okay, Curio. Thank you.” Blaze said politely, knowing it was most definitely not okay. Curio’s eyes were filled with tears, once again her emotional self.

“No, I really am sorry. I didn’t realise how terrible Fourtrees was to the other clans. With all the sunfire capsules and-” Blaze interrupted Curio in shock,

“Wait… Sunfire Capsules?!” 

“You haven’t heard the news? Fourtrees is dropping them on any clan that shows connections to the rebellion. First Sootclan, and now… Well, I'll let you see for yourself.” Curio swivelled to the comscreen on the wall and pressed her paw to the screen. 

"Hello, Curio. How may I help you?" Spoke the comscreen in a monotone, computerized voice.

"News." Curio uttered slowly and clearly. The screen changed from black to a live news broadcast, where from Blaze didn’t know.

**“Breaking News from Dustclan. After a controversial set of images were leaked out into the public eye, Sunfire Capsules rained down on the village parts of Dustclan, killing over one hundred cats. The few survivors that remain have declared themselves enemies of Fourtrees, and are currently in hiding.”** On the screen were videos and images of Dustclan, before and after. Great craters of flames covered the land, and you could see the bodies of cats all around the territory. Blaze felt like throwing up, and Curio began to sob, turning away from the graphic footage.

“Dustclan too?” Hayfur growled, voice taking Blaze by surprise. He sighed and rolled out of his chair into a sitting position, “Oh, hello Blaze. It’s been awhile.” Blaze suddenly remembered the last time she spoke to Hayfur, on the hovercraft that rescued her from the arena. She had yelled in his face, calling him every single insult under the sun. It was definitely not her best moment.

After a long pause, Blaze spoke,

“Hello, Hayfur. How are you?” Blaze replied diplomatically and without emotion. He laughed,

“Not gonna apologise?”

Blaze didn’t reply, and Curio shot Hayfur a look.

“I’m… okay, but as you can see, the rest of the cats of the clans are in quite a commotion.” Hayfur continued slowly, “Even some of the Fourtrees-favored clans are joining the rebellion. That was triggered when our news team, the one that has hacked and now controls the forest-wide broadcasts, discovered that Fourtrees has never given back tribute bodies before. They do strange things with them, experiments and such. It’s disgusting, really.They… They reanimated Tempest.” 

“They brought back  _ Tempest _ ?” Blaze shouted in shock, slamming her paw on the table.

“Yeah. They did. Regrettable choice. Now we all know, and Fourtree’s downfall is certain.” Hayfur stated as Blaze looked horrified. Suddenly, Curio spoke, eyes glued to the comscreen,

“Look, you two. Something is happening.”

 

The monitor had gone black, and in bright red letters the words:  **“And Now, a Message From Fourtrees.”** flashed on the screen.

“They took it back!’ Hayfur exclaimed, the three of them now huddled around the screen, afraid of what was going to happen next. The words were swiftly replaced by footage of Snowstar on his throne.

“Hello cats of all of the clans. It is I, Snowstar, your leader. I do not wish to talk about the tragic storms in Dustclan and Sootclan. I am here today to tell you some joyful news.” He frowned, “Now I know many were very sad when it was discovered that one of our tributes, Blazeash, was kidnapped by the rebels. But we still have our Victors, Quicksilver and Tempest, who have some very exciting news!” The camera zoomed out to reveal Silver sitting beside Tempest on a jewel encrusted loveseat. Tempest look surprisingly normal, aside from one of her eyes, which was an odd, unnatural red. Her expression was unsettling to Blaze, because she knew that expression. It was one of scared prey before she delivered the killing blow. 

“Silver, would you like to tell the world your amazing news?” Snowstar suggested.

“Thank you, Snowstar. I would just like to say that I too, was a bit disappointed that Blaze left us, especially because I truly thought she loved me. But in her, I made a mistake, and now I have the chance to fix my mistake. I found my true love had been with me all along, Tempest. We have decided that because our love is so strong, we are to be mated in a fortnight.” Silver responded a bit too cheerfully.Tempest flashed a toothy grin to the camera, but retained the same scared expression, and Silver nuzzled her gently.

“Thank you, Silver and Tempest, for your happy news to help us forget the tough times we are in-” The screen flickered back to the rebel news program, and Hayfur turned off the comscreen with his paw.

 

“This is not good.” Hayfur groaned, “This is not good at all.”

Blaze tilted her ears back, the hunger in her stomach replaced with what felt like a stone sitting in her gut.

“Do you think something seemed off with Silver?” Hayfur inquired.

“Of course! What do you think Curio?” Blaze said as she jumped to her paws.

“Hayfur, you can’t mean-” Curio screeched.

“Blaze, Snowstar did something to Silver’s mind. I'm not sure how, or what, but I'm sure our scientists can come to a conclusion.” Hayfur assured. Blaze was happy to latch onto anything that meant Silver didn’t truly love Tempest, and suddenly she realised what she had to do.

“I need to go.” Blaze burst out suddenly, rushing out the door and into the hall where Brookstalk was waiting.

“Blaze, what-” Blaze cut him off,

“Take me to the Lunchroom.” She ordered, and Brookstalk didn’t protest, quickly guiding her through the tunnels that led to the room. When she opened the door, every cat in the room turned to look at her. Almost the entire clan was gathered here, huddled around eating mats and being served by workers pushing mealcarts. It was an oddity for cats in Torchclan to be late for an event, especially Lunchtime. The bare minimum rations barely sustained them over until their next meal.

 

Blaze clambered her way up onto a mealcart, trying her best not to knock over any dishes.  _ I guess this works as a podium.  _  She braced herself for what was about to happen, 

“Hello, cats of Torchclan. I have something to say.” Blaze cleared her throat, “I, Blazeash, will be your Phoenix-” The Lunchroom burst into cheers. Goldenstar walked over to Blaze and stood next to her, eyes sparkling,

“Please, do quiet down. Let us hear what Blaze has to say.” She commanded. 

“T-thank you, Goldenstar. Like  I said, I will be your Phoenix. But I do want one thing in return: the rescue of the captured tributes in Fourtrees, and for them to not be prisoners of war, but full citizens.” Blaze bellowed, making sure everyone heard her. Goldenstar glared at Blaze,

“That will be discussed at a later date...” Goldenstar trailed off, realizing that she had fallen into Blaze’s trap. If she disagreed with Blaze, the whole clan wouldn’t respect her leadership anymore. “I mean, of course, Blaze. Thank you for helping our cause.” The lunchroom erupted into more cheering, and everycat wanted to touch Blaze. She was bombarded with hugs, tail twists, pawshakes, random cats touching her fur. Blaze escaped as soon as she could.  


	29. Ashes and Soot

_ Sing me a lie _

_ I don't want  _

_ Nightmares tonight _

_ Gently  _

_ Stroke my fur _

_ Everything's going to  _

_ Be  _

_ Alright _

 

Blaze spent the rest of the sunrise hidden in her nest, clinging to her soft bedding. She stared around her room, trying to accept that this is her home now. Bee and Blaze shared a room on one of the top floors of the cave system. It was one space, with two nests, a mirror, and a storage cubby for what limited belongings they had. Blaze walked over to the cubby and grabbed a small golden locket with her teeth, setting it on her nest. Silver had given it to her the day the arena exploded, as if he knew they were going to be separated. She couldn’t open it, she didn’t have her CLARUS tracker anymore. It hummed gently, and Blaze lay next to it, studying the scratched surface. She didn’t know how long she lay there until a knock on the door woke her from her half asleep haze. Blaze walked over to the door,

"Open." She said, and there stood Ravenstripe. Standing tall and straight in the doorway, Ravenstripe got straight to the point,

“Blaze, I know you want to fight, but our first mission is to go back to Sootclan, and film you. Boltstrike has found a way to hack the screens across the entire nation. Your face will be broadcasted to the public eye. It will get out our message, and tell Snowstar that we are here to fight, alright? A hovercraft will take you and my team to the ruins.” Blaze nodded. She was still thinking about Silver, but the dread of returning to her home was already sinking in. She had learned that Sootclan was one of the clans that had been destroyed by sunfire capsules, the very first in fact. She knew it was going to be bad.

 

The great ship that carried her was called the Sparrow. With her was Ravenstripe, Mapleblossom, and two other cats who were there to film her. They looked almost exactly alike, named Wolfshine and Stagheart. As the Sparrow gently flew along its way to Sootclan, Blaze felt a sudden pang of sadness. All of her memories with Hazy that lived in those caves were all gone. Every trip into the mines, every childhood game, the mushroom Hazy saved because of how it felt. Everything she had ever done besides the Warrior Games was gone.

“We’re here.” said Stagheart gently from the other seat, careful not to touch Blaze.

“Thanks.”

 

The door to the ship opened, and sunlight streamed through. Blaze padded across the ramp, and was greeted by craters.

“Blaze.” said Wolfshine, “We’re going to start filming, okay?” Blaze nodded, and watched the two photographers flip down their cameras over their eyes, and the lights flick on. They filmed the craters and broken structures, collapsed mines, panning over the entire area. Blaze sat and watched the cameracats at work, feeling tired somehow by just looking around. 

"Okay, Blaze, stand right here on top of this boulder. Yes... Perfect. Now say whatever comes to mind." Instructed Wolfshine. Blaze was flustered, unable to form a complete thought. Stagheart saw her struggling,

"Blaze, how does this scene make you feel?"

"I-I don't know. Sad?" Blaze shifted her paws, "This is all my fault..." 

“Cut. No, no, that attitude won’t make a good video. This is Fourtree’s fault.” 

“Right…”

“Maybe we should break for lunch.” suggested Stagheart, before Wolfshine knocked into her,

“We haven’t recorded the voiceovers! That’s easy, right?” Stagheart blushed, “Blaze, if you can think of a song to put over the silent clips, that would really help. It would remind cats of you with Badger. You can finish your speech later.” Blaze tried to think of all the songs she had learned, but none seemed quite fitting, until she remembered the song Bee used to sing to herself when she thought Blaze and Hazy were asleep. Bee had a beautiful voice, and Blaze didn't understand why she only sang when shrouded by darkness. Bee sang other songs too, but this simple, yet chilling tune Blaze remembered the most. Blaze ordered the lyrics in her mind and took a breath,

 

_ "Can you see me, waiting here _

_ In the birch bark trees _

_ By the pond so clear _

_ Answer me _

 

_ please _

 

_ Beautiful mate, _

_ I heard your song _

_ Are you running late? _

_ Will you be long? _

 

_ I fixed you dinner _

_ You must be near _

_ The song of a sinner _

_ I cannot hear _

 

_ I know we'll meet again _

_ But  _

_ they say you ran away _

_ To a place where blood is rain _

_ I know better than to say  _

 

_ Can you see me, waiting here _

_ In the birch bark trees _

_ By the pond so clear _

_ Where we can finally be _

 

_ free" _

 

The camera clicked off, and Blaze could tell they had tears in their eyes. She smiled softly, and turned around, "Is there anything else left to film here?" She asked, and Wolfshine shook her head,

"I think that song is all we need. Let's head back to the ship." Blaze nodded, and they group walked back to the Sparrow in silence.


	30. A Tempest of Emotion

_ Shake out my wings _

_ Hang them up to dry _

_ I'm not getting any _

_ Sleep tonight _

_ No,  _

_ That's too easy a life _

_ For me _

 

Tempest blinked open her eyes, yawning and stretching her right leg. Silver lay next to her, looking like a model nestled in the silken blankets of their nest. Tempest felt a sinking feeling in her gut as she watched Silver's chest rising and falling. She was going to be mated to Silver so soon, it was all she had ever wanted.  _ Why can't I be happy? _

 

Tempest rolled out of her nest and softly padded to the bathroom in the darkness. The dim lights flickered on as she looked to the mirror. She wanted to break it. The reflection was of a monster, it wasn’t her. It was a great metal monster that was wearing her skin over it. Snowstar expected her to be happy and grateful that they had a surgery to make her look "normal". She would have rather been a real monster, outside  _ and  _ in, like they had made Hurricane appear in the games. She and Silver were together, but it was all wrong.

 

Tempest walked into the kitchen, and saw that Snowstar had left them another “mating gift”. It was a batch of fried fish, with a small note hidden within the pile,

“A new mission?” Tempest asked herself, opening the note. Written in red ink was the words, ‘Tower top.’ She read it backwards and forwards. She walked out of her room, and over to the elevator, letting it scan her robotic eye. Like the rest of her body, it looked normal, except for the iris and pupil. The doors opened, and Snowstar stood inside, smiling.

“I was hoping you would see my note. I thought you might want to know about our new information.” Tempest’s eye widened, as the doors slipped closed.

 

Snowstar was small and thin, but being around him made Tempest want to cry. He terrified her. The doors to the elevator opened and the two cats walked out onto the roof, "You can go." Mumbled Snowstar to the two Windclan cats that had powered it. They nodded, and defended back into the building,

"What did you mean by new information?" Tempest looked over at Snowstar, and realized he had a big smile plastered onto his face,

"We know where she is, Tempest. We found Blaze." Tempest felt her heart skip a beat. She had hoped that Blaze would never come back. She didn't want to face the she-cat who killed her and her clanmate with her fiery aggression, "She hid herself away in the ruins of Torchclan, and we think that is where the rebels have made their base." Tempest frowned,  _ Snowstar wants me to attack, huh? _ , "You will lead warriors to get rid of the rebels. But not before we get Blaze back here. She could be really useful to us, and it would be very very bad if she were to fight  _ against  _ us. Maybe she should have a change of heart, like Silver." Tempest took a step back, fear curling in her,

"What do you mean,  _ a change of heart _ ?" Snowstar chuckled and replied,

"It seems I have said too much."

"What do you mean?!" She snarled.

Snowstar's eyes fixated on her, his expression growing cold,

"Did you really think he loved you? Do you have no idea how stupid you are? He never loved you, and he never will. You are a monster, Tempest... did you  _ really  _ think that anyone could love  _ you _ ?" Tempest felt the burn of hot tears down one side of her face, as she ran away.

 

She slammed the door to her room, and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She stared again at her reflection, and felt an anger burn within her. With a crash the mirror came splintering down, hitting the floor. Blood from her paws dripped as the tears came flooding. She heard Silver outside the bathroom door,

"Oh my Moonstar, Tempest, are you alright?"  She didn't answer, as she stared into the remains of the mirror still in the frame. All she could see was her red, glowing, fake eye. With a screech of rage, Tempest started to pull at the eye, feeling the worst pain she had ever felt. Within seconds, her vision blurred, and she fell, onto the mirror pieces. Hornets picked her apart, stinging her skin. And then everything was red.


	31. Melt

_ Two poles, north _

_ and south. _

_ opposites _

_ attract, they say _

_ but still _

_ they push away _

 

Blaze rested her chin on the cool metal desk in front of her, waiting for the rest of Ravenstripe’s team to arrive to the meeting. A sunrise had passed since her visit to Sootclan, and she spent all of her free time trying to track down the elusive Kestrel. She had hung around the Torchstone chamber for half the day, and spent the entirety of lunch strolling through the meal carts and lunch tables, but her father was nowhere to be found.  _ There's so much I don't know. I need to find him. _

 

All of the furniture in the meeting room faced towards the blank screen attached to the curved, slate grey wall. One staff member leaned against the wall, trying to look like they were busy grooming their fur, but every few seconds they glanced over at Blaze skeptically. But Blaze was done running and hiding from these meetings. They always found her.

“Ahem…” one of the staff blushed as Blaze looked to her, but remained stone-faced. Sunflecks and Echo opened the door, both with bright smiles on their faces,

“Hello Blaze!” Echo called joyfully, “Aren’t you happy, today is the day!” Echo was almost bouncing with joy,

“Oh Echo, put that enthusiasm to use and get the propo ready to present, okay?” Sighed Sunflecks, more reserved than her partner. "And, um, Blink?"A larger white cat raised her head from her comscreen, “Go find Maple, he’s probably off in some room sleeping. Blurwind and Ravenstripe are getting Goldenstar.” Blink nodded, and ran off down a hallway.

 

It was not that long until Tinkertail, Boltstrike, and Maple were wandering in with Blink at their tails. Blaze looked at Boltstrike, 

“Blink here found Tinker and I working on machines in our lab. We… forgot about the meeting.” Apologized Boltstrike. Tinkertail nodded, sitting down in one of the chairs and immediately fiddling with the comscreen in front of her.

 

Goldenstar walked up to the front of the room, and nodded at Echo. The screen next to her lit up, and Goldenstar cleared her throat,

"Presenting... Our very first propo! This is going to be played in all of the clans  _ and  _ Fourtrees, at the same time that we will watch it now. Lights?" Goldenstar beamed as the lights dimmed and the screen glowed with a Fourtrees news station. The cats were simply talking, unaware of what was about to happen.

 

There was a flickering of static, and Blaze could hear her own voice through it,

“ _ Can you see me waiting here.” _ the song paused as a scene of war played, “ _ In the birch bark trees, by the pond so clear.”   _ It cut to clips of Sootclan, before and after, and then to more war, just as Goldenstar’s voiceover cut in, 

“They told you that the flame went out.”

“ _ Answer me, please.” _

“They told you that your struggles were in vain.”

“ _ I fixed you dinner, you must be near.” _

_ “ _ They told you that we were destroyed.”

The scene was now of Blaze, overlooking the destroyed Sootclan,

“ _ The song of a sinner I cannot hear, I know we'll meet again, but  they say you ran away to a place where blood is rain I know better than to say “ _

It then cut to Blaze catching on fire in the arena,

“But like the phoenix, we are reborn from the ashes, and you cannot beat us.”

“  _ Can you see me waiting here, in the birch bark trees  by the pond so clear, where we can finally be…” _

The screen turned black, then became a picture of Goldenstar,

“Because we will always come back to get you.”

“ _ free…” _

 

The screen flickered in static again, and soon the newscasters were back. Their eyes were wide in fear and confusion, and just as they noticed they were back on the air, the screen turned off,

“How was that Blaze?” Goldenstar asked,

“Good. That was… good.” 

Goldenstar grinned.

“I hoped you would say that.”

Goldenstar stood up, her eyes glittering, “Let's cheer for our new Phoenix!” the rest of the room clapped their paws on the table, cheering, except for Goldenstar, who stared at Blaze with a stoic expression.

Blaze smiled at everyone as she attempted to leave quietly without a trace. She just wanted to spend a quiet night alone, thinking over things. But Goldenstar stopped Blaze in her tracks,

“Blaze wait! We need you still.” 

 

Blaze turned back around, tired and annoyed. She had already spent her day on the brink of insanity, and now to learn that she had something else today, Blaze wanted to scream,

“What, what is it?” Blaze said with dentiloquent, “What now?” Goldenstar laughed gently,

“I know you’ve been busy, but this is about Silver.” Blaze’s looked at Goldenstar with wide eyes,

“S-Silver? Are you making a-”

“A plan to save him? Yes. But you need to come with me, we’re going to need your help.” Blaze nodded softly, as if in a trance.  _ Silver? Could we really get him back?  _ Blaze felt a stinging feeling in the back of her throat.

The meeting room was filled with many cats, and they all nodded when Blaze came in.

“Goldenstar, Blaze, good to see you join the conversation.” Sneered a pure black cat sitting in the corner,

“Blaze, this is Viz. They’re our head of security.” Viz grimaced, trying to pass it off as a smile.

“Nice to meet you.” Blaze said softly. Goldenstar motioned to an empty chair, the one next to Viz. Blaze sat down and tried not to look at Viz, all the while feeling the prickle of Viz’s harsh stare on her back. The meeting started as the screen in the room turned on, showing off a basic map of the inside of Fourtrees.

“This is all the information my troops were able to gather undercover.” Viz said absentmindedly, “We couldn’t get that close for long.” Goldenstar nodded softly,

“It’s alright Viz.” She said smiling, “We have an expert on the matter already around.” Goldenstar turned to the doorway and the two guards that waited near them, “Please go get that white Fourtrees cat.” The guards nodded and ran into the hallway.

 

The door shut softly and Blaze felt the soft prickles of stares crawling up her back. It was a long time before the guards returned, dragging Curio behind them,

“GET OFF OF ME, YOU BRUTES!” Screeched Curio, swinging her rounded, partially painted claws around at them. The two guards placed her in a chair, and she begrudgingly sat down, “I do not appreciate  _ brute strength _ .” She snarled at the two guards, who looked embarrassed, “Any-hoo, what do you wish of me?” She asked, blinking her large, pink eyes in confusion. Goldenstar smiled, but it looked like she was smirking,

“We need you to help us with this map of Fourtrees.” Curio started to laugh.

“Why should I help you. I have already told you that I wish to remain sideless in this fight, have I not?” Goldenstar’s eyes burned, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Blaze cut her off before she could,

“Curio, we’re going to save Silver.” Curio’s eyes widened,

“Oh! Why didn't you say so?!” She looked at Goldenstar, “If this reason really is to save Silver, then I will do all I can to help.” Goldenstar calmed down a little, 

“Alright. Well then, we need your help on this map.” Blaze felt Goldenstar watch her with anger, as Curio stepped up, and started drawing in details for the map on her CLARUS tracker. 

 

“Well then,” Curio said softly, walking back to admire her work, “I'm pretty sure that Silver should be held in the 3rd residential wing, here.” She lit up a small area on the west-most point, “I lived near this building, it was full, so it is likely his room is on one of the top floors.” She looked back and smiled, “They’re new building tops, so…” Viz stood up,

“Alright, so if we came from the top, we would have an advantage?” They asked Curio,

“Yeah, that's the idea…”

Blaze spaced out while everycat discussed tactical things and mission strategies.  _ I’m going to see Silver soon.  _ Eventually the meeting was drawn to an end, excitement buzzing around the room like electricity.

 

“You alright with that Blaze?” Viz asked, less than a tail length away from Blaze’s face. Blaze stuttered and stirred,

“What?”

“You okay with being part of the rescue team? Sure your emotions won't get the best of you?” They asked with snark,

“Yeah, I'll be fine.” Blaze said, rubbing her eyes gently,

Viz smiled,

“Well then, let's see how you do, shall we? I’ll see you tomorrow for training. Better not skip out.” Blaze nodded, and wandered out of the room, and back to her own where Bee was soundly sleeping. Blaze embraced the night as she lay her head down on her pillow and fell asleep.


	32. Memory Lane

_ Forgetting  _

_ Forgiving _

_ Regretting  _

_ Reliving _

 

Blaze awoke softly from her dream. She dreamed of seeing Silver again, the way that he talked and smiled. It was a good dream, a hopeful dream, full of that warm feeling in the bottom of her heart. There was nothing on her schedule today, so Blaze had the entire day to herself.  _ I should go see Kestrel _ , she thought to herself,  _ I need to know more. This could be my only chance.  _

 

Blaze wandered down into the Torchstone hollow to try and find him, not expecting much. To her surprise, he was already waiting there for her,

“I knew you would come, Blaze. You want to know more, I think. About everything.” Blaze nodded, and Kestrel sighed and smiled at his daughter, “Where would you like to start?” He asked softly, and Blaze thought for a moment. There was so much she wanted to know, and so much he could tell her, but where to start…

“My mother…” Blaze said quietly, looking at the floor before up at Kestral, “Who  _ was  _ she? Where did she come from? What was she like?” Kestrel smiled, “Your mother was… Different...

 

_ She moved to our clan when she was older, like  I, joining for the rebellion, and always seemed distant from all the other kits at our school. She expected us to treat her like royalty, but all the other kits hated it. They said she was bossy and mean, but I saw something else in her. I saw pain and suffering. I saw her fear, and everything that she was trying to hide. I've always been good at reading other cats. One day, I went up to her, and asked her about her life. She seemed at first to have nothing to say. She seemed quiet for once though, quiet and shy. She looked distant and sad, but eventually she broke down. She said that she was the daughter of Snowstar, and that mother sent her away to be safe from her father. She said her mother bought her a small nest here, in Torchclan, to get her away from him, and that Snowstar was going crazy with all of the new rebellious behaviors in the clans. That he was dangerous. _

 

_ She trusted me with every secret she had, and it wasn't long before we were good friends, talking every day. I tried to introduce the others to her, but she and them never got along. In fact, she got along with me and me alone. It was strange. She depended on me. And in some ways, I depended on her too. She listened when I talked, just as I did the other way around. Gradually, with each passing day, we fell in love. Slowly, softly,  and wholeheartedly in love. It wasn't long before she was expecting, and shorter until we had you.  _

 

_ Goldenstar, saying that she was the last descendant of Moonstar and Sunstar, wished to use her as the Phoenix, but your mother didn't want anything to do with it. She still loved her father, even if it was only the smallest bit. Goldenstar threatened her, but could do nothing to stop Heartstring’s decision. Goldenstar was devious, however, and threatened to take you away from us and to train you to be a weapon. Neither of us wanted that for you, so when you were six moons old, we sent you to live with my sister, Beesting, in Sootclan. I brought you there myself, also carrying small stone that Heartstring trusted with me, telling me to keep it safe and put it somewhere you could find it, when you were old enough. Your clan token, correct? It’s funny how fate always gets it’s way. _

 

_ When I arrived in Sootclan, Bee recently had a litter of kits. They all died soon after birth, except for one, your brother, Hazyflame. My sister was happy to raise you as her own.  _

 

_ And what happened to your mother? Heartstring was dead by the time I returned to Torchclan.” _

 

* * *

 

Once again, Blaze hid in a storage cubby, curled up into a tiny ball. She replayed her father’s story in her head again for the thousandth time, covering her ears like she always did. The walls Blaze had built, the parts of her had healed from the games, came crashing down. She whispered aloud the thought itching at her brain, 

“Snowstar is my grandfather.”

Blaze wanted to scream.  _ I’m related to the cat that caused all of this.  _

 

_ I’m related to the cat who killed Hazy. _


	33. Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi anybody who chose to read this! This is actually the last chapter I have of the Warrior Games. Around this time, my friend and I got burned out on ideas for the story, but if people want me to, I could finish this now, or at least post our plans for the rest of the story.

_ One thinks she is full _

_ The other a shadow _

_ And he knows she  is broken _

_ Outspoken _

_ A token _

 

Viz stared at Blaze quietly, wondering what she was thinking. Blaze had been quiet and focused for the entire time they had spent training. It was clear, however, that Blaze was doing her best, and she seemed on top of everything they could toss her way. Viz cleared their throat, and all the training cats turned toward her,

“We’re heading out in a few moments, so start loading the hovercraft, alright?” The other cats shuffled out the door, but Blaze sat down on the floor and stared blankly at a wall, “Hey!” Viz shouted, pulling Blaze out of her thoughts, “Just because you’re the Phoenix doesn't mean you get special privileges. Go and gather your things!” Blaze nodded softly and stood up, shaking the dust out of her tail before walking away. She half-smiled.  _ I’m going to see Silver again, which means going into Fourtrees, where Snowstar, my… grandfather… is waiting. _

 

The hover ride was long and bumpy, as well as disorienting. The only hovercrafts the rebellion had were open-sided, and as she stared into the long drop below her, Blaze felt an uncertainty about the mission as a whole. Even after killing another cat with her own paws, she was still afraid of something as meaningless as a fall. How was she going to confront anyone like this? One of the other cats, a small brown she-cat noticed Blaze’s panicked expression and tapped her,

“It’ll be okay. I know that you’re apprehensive about this mission, but trust me, everything will turn out okay.” the she-cat smiled softly, and Blaze nodded,

“Thank you.” She turned back to the open side, and looked below her. Heights were always something she was afraid of, but this mission wasn’t going to be like that. She wouldn’t be jumping off a cliff, she was helping to save Silver and the others from captivity in Fourtrees. Blaze closed her eyes. She felt the air shift around the cabin, and heard it rushing past the hovercraft sides. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes again and making sure not to look out into the world below her. A world that was getting rapidly farther away.

 

It was strange looking around the cabin. The mix of emotions from face to face. The three other cats who were sitting on the end (like Blaze) were looking stressed. Viz was sitting in the middle of the row opposite to Blaze’s, and their looked like they were about to kill literally every cat in the hovercraft. Blaze quickly looked away from their gaze, and over to the light brown she-cat. The other cat was talking with a tom, also light brown, about the mission. The more she looked at the she-cat and tom, the more Blaze realized how similar they looked. They both had deep amber eyes and cream muzzles, as well as their light brown fur. They were both really small too, so much so that Blaze could have sworn they were only apprentices. The hovercraft swerved and everyone fell on the cat next to them. Blaze heard the startled gasps of a few cats, and one of the cats on the end who had dipped out of the door for a moment started hyperventilating, his eyes wide. The tom next to him started trying to console him, but he kept hyperventilating and mumbling about how stupid it was to come. Viz unbuckled their safety belt and walked over to the tom. Blaze saw some of the others wince, preparing themselves for the yelling that was about to ensue. 

“Hazelpelt.” Said Viz, commandingly. He turned to them, fearful. Viz placed their front paw on Hazelpelt’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay. Do you want to switch seats?” Hazelpelt nodded, unbuckled his safety belt and walked over to their old seat. Everyone looked at Viz, surprised by their kindness. They just smiled at the confused faces before looking out the door into the country below.


End file.
